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Song  of  Kansas 

anb 

poems. 


DY  JOEL  MOODY. 


'There  is  no  history  so  true  as  the  poetic." 

—Marcdla   HowlanJ. 


TOPEKA,  KANSAS: 

GEO.  W.   CRANE  &  CO., 

1890. 


Copyright,  1890,  by  JOEL  MOODY. 


PREFACE. 


EACH  of  these  poems  was  written  for  a  special 
purpose  —  to  commemorate  some  fact  or  event  in 
my  own  life.  The  Song  of  Kansas  is  a  tribute  to 
the  State  in  which  I  have  lived  nearly  thirty-two 
years.  My  life  is  a  part  of  its  history.  I  wrote 
the  "Song"  for  my  children,  who  were  born  in 
Kansas,  and  desired  to  know  something  of  the 
early  history  of  their  State.  For  this  purpose  I 
have  added  ample  notes. 

The  other  poems  connect  me  with  things  and  per- 
sons, about  which  or  to  whom  they  were  written, 
and  thus  they  also  are  a  part  of  my  life.  There 
has  been  of  late  a  personal  demand  on  me  for  their 
publication.  I  send  them  forth,  not  for  profit  or 
fame,  but  simply  as  messages  of  Patriotism,  of 

Friendship,  and  Love. 

THE  AUTHOR. 

THE  MAPLES: 

MOUND  CITY,  KANSAS, 

September  1,  1890. 


203" 2 


CONTENTS. 


PASS. 

PREFACE v 

CONTENTS vii 

THE  SONG  OF  KANSAS 1 

Introduction 3 

i. 

Coronado's  March  through  the  Plains  in  the  Year  1541...  5 

The  March 5 

ii. 

The  Advent  of  Columbia  and  the  Natal  Song  of  Kansas..  15 

Columbia 17 

The  Natal  Hour 19 

in. 
The  Struggle  in  Kansas  with  Freedom  against  the  Great 

Hydra  — American  Slavery 21 

Pardee  Butler 25 

Charles  W.  Dow 25 

William  Phillips 25 

Thomas  W.  Barber 26 

Andrew  H.  Reeder 27 

The  Invasion 28 

Lawrence 28 

Freedom's  Champion 32 

Liberty  and  John  Brown 32 

Col.  John  W.  Geary 41 

Linn 4'J 

Osawanda 43 

John  Brown 75 

The  Civil  War 78 


THE  SONG  OF  KAN s AS  —  Continued: 

IV.  PAGE. 

Kansas  in  the  Reign  of  Peace 80 

Peace 80 

The  State 81 

The  Home 82 

The  Early  Pioneer 85 

The  Prairie  Fire 86 

The  Heroes 89 

Commerce 88 

The  Flag 89 

History's  Wisdom 91 

The  Sunflower 93 

The  Patriot's  Love 93 

MISCELLANEOUS  POEMS 95 

The  Prayer  upon  the  Wall 97 

Dawn 101 

The  Tear 102 

Life 103 

The  Last  Roll 104 

University  of  Michigan:  Threnody 107 

Old  Captain  Sumpter 115 

The  Guest  at  Home 120 

The  Sawmill  of  the  Gods 121 

Looking  Backward 124 

A  Young  Lady's  Holocaust 1>28 

The  Child  of  Fate 129 

A  Scotch  Song:  "  Stormy  Weather  " 130 

A  German  Drinking  Song 131 

"Eximpt" 133 

The  Loaned  Book 134 

Alone 135 

The  Enchanted  Garden ; 135 

Silver  Threads 137 

What  is  the  World  to  Me? 138 

"The  Maples" 140 

HISTORIC  NOTES 143 


Song  of 


INTRODUCTION. 


T  STRIKE  the  chord  of  the  enchanted  shell 
To  Clio  given,  whose  soft  strains  lingering  dwell 
With  him  who  makes  the  ancient  thing  his  joy, 
And  grateful  is,  those  strains  his  steps  decoy: — 
With  him  who  strays  by  ivy-mantled  wall 
And  hears  the  trembling  voice  of  Ages  call: — 
With  him  who  in  some  dark  abode  or  wild 
Finds  the  first  footprints  of  rude  Nature's  child, 
With  kalends  numbered  from  the  oldest  page 
And  cut  in  sullen  stone  moss-grown  with  age: — 
With  him  who  dares  to  ride  the  endless  main, 
To  tread  the  mountain  tops  and  pathless  plain, 
Or  to  explore  a  world  whose  people  eld 
No  page  had  known  or  civil  eye  beheld; 
Or  where  within  these  ancient  realms  new  forms 
Arise,  where  civil  life  is  built,  where  warms 
The  patriot  heart,  and  in  the  fireside  blaze 
We  find  the  old  expiring  as  we  gaze. 
Fondly  with  the  blue-eyed  Muse  I  dwell,  —  she 
Who  haunts  the  restless  realms  of  History. 


of 


COKOXAPO'S  MARCH  THROUGH  THE  PLAINS  IN  THE  YEAR  1541. 


THE    MARCH. 

IT  was  when  pious,  proud  and  bold 

Carlos  the  Fifth  reigned  king  of  Spain, 
Old  chevaliers,  with  worldly  gain 
Imbued,  crossed  the  mighty  main 

To  plant  the  cross,  and  search  for  gold. 

Of  valor,  who  shall  question  that? 

Each  one  a  knight,  had  kissed  the  hand 
Of  lady  love,  and  sworn  to  stand 
By  Honor's  sword  in  foreign  land, — 

Swore  by  the  spurs,  and  tipped  the  hat. 

And  thus  stout  men,  and  brave  and  true, 
Skilled  in  the  art  of  war,  and  lore 
Of  sea,  —  toward  setting  sun  they  bore, 
While  Coronado,  far  from  shore, 

Waved  his  dear  land  a  long  adieu. 


The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Thus,  while  King  Charles  did  tell  his  beads 
And  tinker  at  his  clocks,  there  came, 
The  highest  on  the  roll  of  fame; 
The  choicest  chiefs,1  in  Honor's  name, — 

Valiant  they  came  for  valiant  deeds, 

To  the  great  land  of  ancient  mines, — 
To  kingly  Montezuma's  home, — 
Through  cities  old  and  gray  to  roam, — 
To  that  rich  realm  in  weirdly  tome 

Foretold  by  astrologic  signs. 

From  the  trackless  path  of  the  wide 
Sea  came,  to  take  the  path  on  land 
Of  many  an  Indian  band; — 
Perchance  to  find  and  shake  the  hand 

Of  lost  Nunez,  and  him  provide.  2 

And  soon  in  part  their  hopes  fulfilled; — 
The  Spaniard  lost  on  land  and  sea 
Cabe<?a  came,  and  told  in  free 
And  easy  tale  the  story  he 

Had  heard  of  men  profoundly  skilled 

In  all  the  arts  of  peace  and  war, — 
That  he  had  traveled  over  plains 
Of  weary  sand,  where  kindly  rains 
Had  never  come,  —  and  mountain  chains 

Whose  peaks,  high  capped  in  snows  afar, 


The  Sang  of  Kansas. 

Were  filled  with  gold;  and  that  they  stand 
Like  sentinels  to  show  the  way 
To  cities  gemmed  like  some  bright  spray; 
And  at  their  feet  outspread  did  lay 

Bounteous  pastures,  and  fruitful  land. 

Heralder  of  a  mighty  state  ! 

Whose  soil  thy  own  brave  feet  have  trod, 
Whose  hand  first  waved  the  potent  rod 
Of  empire  o'er  her  emerald  sod, 

Cabe<?a,  first  among  the  great ! 

Now,  Coronado  must  adventure  — 
He  is  a  chosen  child  of  Fate; 
His  name  must  stand  among  the  great, — 
Undaunted  he  of  scorn  or  hate, 

His  star  did  not  arise  for  censure. 

On  to  Rio  Colorado  ! 

Mark  the  dim  trail  which  Diaz  took ! 

Search  the  land  Alar^on  forsook ! 

Plant  there  the  cross  and  Holy  Book ! 
Then  on  again  with  Alvarado, 

To  rare  old  cities  of  the  hills 

Held  fast  within  their  lap  of  earth, 
Whose  history  and  ancient  birth 
Forestalls  the  years;  whose  golden  worth 

The  multitude  with  wonder  fills !  3 


The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Weary  and  worn,  those  sturdy  sons 

Of  Spain  marched  on  through  torrid  heat 
And  stifling  sands,  at  last  to  meet, 
Not  hopes  fulfilled,  nor  waters  sweet 

To  taste,  nor  wealth  in  hoarded  tons 

To  harvest  in  like  golden  sheaves; 
But  savage  men  with  filthy  wives, 
And  homes  of  mud  for  weirdly  lives.  4 
Then  blasted  hopes  unsheathed  the  knives, 

And  Pueblos  fell  like  Autumn  leaves. 

Then  on  old  Zuni's  heights  was  woe: — 
Where  once  was  freedom  now  the  walled 
Fortress  shuts  in  a  race  enthralled; — 
And  where  in  peace  and  joy  they  called 

Upon  their  gods,  a  foreign  foe 

Has  turned  to  mockery  their  prayers. 
Then,  ancient  head  and  saint  of  years, 
Downcast,  trembling  and  sick  with  fears, 
Implores  the  Hidden  Power  in  tears 

For  one  to  save  his  race,  who  dares 

To  give  his  life  that  men  may  live: — 

And  though  the  hand  of  Heaven  be  slow, 
The  prayer  unanswered  does  not  go. 
A  life  is  asked  —  no  promised  bow 

In  sky,  or  hand  of  brave  to  give, 


The  Song  of  Kansas. 

But  him  who  can  fond  hopes  beguile; — 
Who  can  with  sly  and  studied  art 
Pluck  every  fear  from  his  stout  heart; — 
Who  can  from  home  and  world  depart, 

While  Death  wafts  up  to  heaven  his  smile. 

Such  man  was  found.      Nor  do  the  years 
Pass  o'er  a  race  of  men  or  age, 
In  this  old  world's  story,  when  rage 
Of  lust  blots  fair  History' s  page, 

Without  some  man  whom  time  endears, 

As  the  great  savior  of  his  race, 

To  come  and  offer  up  his  life. 

Not  such  as  told  of  mythic  strife 

In  ancient  lore,  or  story  rife 
With  deeds  that  do  their  gods  disgrace; 

Nor  mighty  one  among  the  stars, 
In  Vedic  poem  sung;  nor  vast 
Old  giant  of  the  earth,  to  cast 
The  weighty  spear,  and  then  at  last 

Forsake  mankind,  like  bloody  Mars; 

But  came  then  forth  a  man  inspired 
With  holy,  grand,  immortal  sense 
Of  love,  which  goes  like  sweet  incense 
Up  to  heaven,  and  is  recompense 

Alone  for  all  of  life  required.  5 


10  The  Srnig  of  Kansas. 

In  pity,  then,  this  fable  told 

The  savage  sage  to  save  his  race: 
That  far  away  some  hallow*  d  place 
Was  known  to  him,  where  the  white-face 

Doth  dwell  and  dress  in  silks  and  gold; 

And  that  they  eat  from  golden  plates, 

With  silver  spoons  and  forks  and  knives;    • 
That  fairies  live  with  men  as  wives; 
That  mankind  live  enchanted  lives, 

Where  want  comes  not  nor  strifes  nor  hates; 

That  he  will  lead  o'er  hills  and  dells, 
To  that  fair  land  where  cities  old 
Are  filled  with  tons  of  wealth  untold; 
To  where  a  king  is  clad  in  gold, 

And  sleeps  '  neath  trees  with  golden  bells. 

Brave  savage  guide !  his  story  told, 
Dupes  Coronado,  and  his  train 
Of  idol  worshipers.      In  vain 
Shall  death  appall;  he  shall  be  slain, 

And  save  mankind,  like  gods  of  old. 

Then  brought  he  forth  the  pipe  of  peace, 
And  lit  the  sacred  fire,  and  said: 

"This  pipe  I  smoke,  that  our  brave  dead, 
Whose  souls  move  round  the  mountain  red 

May  come  and  give  our  woes  release. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  11 

"Now  will  you  go  to  old  Quivira; 

To  that  fair  land  of  our  red  pipe,  6 
Where  you  may  reap  your  harvest  ripe 
Of  brilliant  hopes,  and  joyous  wipe 
All  care  away;  where  rests  the  weary?" 

"I  go,"  quoth  he,  "to  clutch  the  spoil." 
And  thus  the  pious  fable  wrought 
Into  the  fancies  of  his  thought, 
And  led  him  on,  till  he  was  taught 
The  solid  facts  of  Kansas  soil. 

O'er  the  vast  plains,  upon  the  trail 7 
Of  eld  commercial  bands,  who  bring 
The  northern  fur,  for  the  bright  wing 
Of  tropic  bird,  they  go  wandering; 

Far  from  their  stores  or  friendly  sail. 

Through  herds  of  buffalo, 8  who  came 
With  savage  look  and  shaggy  mane, 
To  question  why  this  warlike  train 
Should  here  molest  their  ancient  reign; 

By  whose  command,  and  in  what  name. 

Prophets  they  came,  to  tell  these  savage 
Monarch s  of  the  grassy  fields 
That  the  hard  hand  of  Time,  that  wields 
The  destiny  of  worlds,  and  shields 

A  race  of  men  though  born  to  ravage, 


12  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Now  soon  shall  strike,  and  savage  beast 
And  savage  man  shall  hear  their  doom: 
Give  way !   stand  back  !  pass  off  !   give  room 
To  the  weird  sisters  of  the  Loom  ! 

Hail !  mighty  Genius  of  the  East. 

Thus  to  Kansas  Coronado  came, 

With  pious  Turco  for  his  guide; 

O'er  blinding  sands  and  rivers  wide; 

Through  valleys  gay  and  rich  they  ride; 
And  find,  not  Fortune  fair,  —  but  Fame. 

"Bring  forth  my  Indian  guide,"  quoth  he; 
il  Where  is  thy  shining  gold?     Now  tell ! 
Shake  mute  thy  head?     Here  goes  to  hell 
Thy  soul !  " — and  the  firm  savage  fell, 
The  first  fruits  of  the  golden  tree. 9 

Thus  the  host  of  Coronado 

Entered  on  the  plains  of  Kansas, — 
Thus  they  made  the  first  advances, 
Not  to  possess  her  fields  and  ranches, 

But  to  grasp  a  golden  shadow. 

Nor  was  the  kingdom  that  he  sought 
Filled  with  wisdom's  storied  page; 
Nor  ruled  by  hoary -headed  sage; — 
Here  was  no  land  to  quench  the  rage 

Of  fancies  that  his  brain  had  wrought. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  13 

lie  stopped  far  short  of  that  famed  land, 
Which  princely  Madoc's  children  name; 
Whose  beauteous  face  and  manly  frame 
Bespoke  a  race  of  Cimric  fame; 

Long  lost  on  the  Atlantic  strand. l  ° 

lie  found  Quivira  wild  and  fair, 

Nature's  rude  child;  yet  in  her  face 

Might  see  the  vision  of  a  race 

That,  clasped  within  her  fond  embrace, 

Should  conquer  earth,  and  sky,  and  air. 

His  was  the  life  and  his  the  era, 

When  Fancy  pictured  Fancy's  child; — 
A  land  where  Summer,  soft  and  mild, 
Cast  flowers  upon  the  Year,  and  smiled 

To  thus  bedeck  her  fair  Quivira. 

Here  on  the  banks  of  dark  Missouri 1 1 
The  peaceful  country  found,  but  hero 
For  unrequited  toil  paid  dear; 
The  golden  tree  found  not,  nor  tear 

From  savage  eye,  for  savage  story. 

Here  stayed  his  course,  and  waved  the  rod 
Of  empire  over  Kansas,  young 
And  fair;  and  the  dear  cross  where  hung 
The  Christ  was  raised,  and  hymn  was  sung, 

In  honor  of  his  race  and  God. 


14  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

His  hopes  a  prophecy  fulfilled, — 
The  vision  that  he  saw  is  ours, — 
Ours  the  gift  of  heavenly  powers, — 
A  golden  land  of  fruits  and  flowers, — 

And  deeds  which  have  the  ages  thrilled. 

Then  backward  Coronado  bent 

His  course;  sadly,  slowly,  unwept, 
He  went.      Here  savage  Virtue  kept 
Her  reign,  and  here  fair  Pallas  *  2  slept 

In  peace,  till  dawned  a  great  event. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  *  15 


THE    ADVENT    OF    COLUMBIA    AND    THE    NATAL    SONG    OF 
KANSAS. 

THREE  hundred  times  and  twelve,  the  great 
Pendulum  which  measures  on  its  arc 
Both  space  and  time,  and  there  the  dark 
Mysteries  of  passing  years  doth  mark, 

Ticked  out  the  coming  of  a  state. 

And  in  those  years  what  change  has  come ! 
New  empires  rise  while  others  die, — 
Cities  of  old  in  ruins  lie, — 
And  the  new  fret  the  vaulted  sky, 

With  battlement  and  spacious  dome. 

And  Europe's  map,  drawn  in  the  face 
Of  deadly  War,  on  bloody  field, 
Now  sadly  changed  by  those  who  wield 
The  diplomatic  axe,  and  shield 

The  conquering  heroes  of  the  race. 

As  with  a  wizard's  touch  old  Spain 

Transformed;  her  knighthood  gone,  her  star 
Of  glory  set  at  Trafalgar; — 
And  yet  fair  Kansas,  from  afar, 

Recalls  the  story  of  her  reign. 


16  •  The,  Song  of  Kansas, 

Then  came  fair  Science  to  indite 

Her  hymn,  — who  with  her  hammer  knocks 
High  truths  from  out  the  solid  rocks, 
And  deftly  cuts  from  Kansas  blocks, 

Grander  than  Cnidian  Aphrodite. 

She  holds  within  her  mystic  hand 
The  potent  rod  which  doth  unarm 
The  mighty  Jove,  —  she  doth  alarm 
The  thunderer  on  his  throne,  and  charm 

His  lightnings  with  her  magic  wand. 

She  hath  disrobed  the  ancient  myth, — 

Tracked  home  the  planets  and  the  suns, — 
Measured  and  weighed  the  minor  ones: 
Now  dusts  her  scales  of  sundry  tons, 

And  then  the  atoms  weighs  therewith. 

She  doth  invade  old  Neptune's  realm, — 
Brings  from  his  depths  the  hidden  lore, — 
Speaks  through  his  waves  from  shore  to  shore, 
And  sets  the  trident  that  he  bore, 

On  every  sailor's  prow  and  helm. 

Cities  unearthed  stand  forth  and  tell 

Old  tales.      To  sight  comes  back  the  place 

Where  Virgil  sat,  —  and  buried  mace 

Of  high  old  courts,  —  and  Troy's  proud  race 

Appears  again,  where  Priam  fell. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  17 

Now  the  firm  hand  is  laid  on  ghost 

That  haunts  Arcadia's  ancient  shades, — 
The  veil  is  torn  away,  and  fades 
Upon  our  sight  the  phantom  maids, 

And  gods,  which  the  old  classics  boast. 

From  time's  great  depths,  dark  India  speaks 
A  wisdom  by  the  priests  of  old, — 
And  gods  appear  in  mystic  mold, 
Fair,  lotus-eyed,  in  snaky  fold, 

Or  sit  in  snows  on  mountain  peaks. 

Great  Egypt,  mistress  of  the  Nile, 
In  hieroglyphic  lore  appears, — 
Land  of  dark  Memnon,  and  quaint  seers, 
And  mystic  rites;  the  sullen  tears 

Of  Time  make  havoc  of  thy  smile. 

COLUMBIA. 

Earth  kissed  the  heaven,  and  then  gave  birth 
To  Tethys  fair,  whose  soul  on  wings 
Of  fruitful  love  arose,  —  then  springs 
Immortal  Doris  forth,  who  brings 

To  manhood  mighty  sons  of  earth. 

From  these  Columbia13  comes  forth, 
A  nereid  of  the  sea,  where  old 
Oceanus  keeps  his  watery  fold, — 
She  comes  with  hair  like  floating  gold, — 

Star-gemmed  her  robe, —  of  priceless  worth 


18  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Her  band;  and  wiping  from  her  head 
The  slimy  wrongs  which  Ocean  kept, 
And  blinding  tears  sad  Misery  wept; 
Then  on  the  surf-beat  shore  she  stept, 

And  held  aloft  her  hand,  and  said: 

"From  north  to  south,  from  east  to  west, 
To  Truth  and  Liberty  this  land 
I  dedicate;  and  here  shall  stand 
And  live  the  right;  here  Law's  command 
Shall  reign,  and  here  mankind  be  blest. 

44 Here  soon  shall  rise  the  dazzling  sun, 
That  gilds  the  shield  of  Liberty; — 
Sweet  Virtue  here  shall  honored  be, — 
Here  shall  I  plant  the  fruitful  tree; 
Here  give  to  earth  a  Washington. 

"Here  shall  I  raise  the  starry  flag, 

Now  my  encircling  drapery, 

Aiid  on  its  ample  folds  shall  be 

A  constellation  of  the  free. 

Upon  the  highest  mountain  crag, 

"And  in  the  lowest  vale  or  moat, — 
Upon  the  lakes  and  mighty  stream- 
On  gulf  and  ocean's  surge,  its  beams 
Shall  fall  on  earth  like  angels'  dreams,— 
Here  shall  my  proud  flag  freely  float 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  19 

'And  as  the  coming  time  advances, 
There  shall  upon  this  flag  appear 
A  central  star;  holy  and  clear 
Its  light  shall  shine,  and  be  more  dear 

To  me  than  all,  —  that  star  is  Kansas. 

'Kansas  the  name — 14  child  of  the  wind 
That  sweeps  her  grassy  fields,  and  brings 
The  storm  upon  his  fretful  wings, 
Or  on  the  cyclone  rides,  and  flings 

The  torn  and  scattered  wreck  behind. 

'But  ere  that  time  shall  come  the  flail 
Of  Truth  will  fall  upon  this  land, 
Harder  than  stroke  of  Titan's  hand; 
The  golden  grain,  by  Heaven's  command, 

Is  thrashed,  and  winnowed  in  the  gale." 

Thus  said,  the  goddess  flung  her  robe 
Upon  the  breeze,  and  took  her  flight 
From  the  Atlantic  shore;  her  bright 
Path  a  blazing  meteor's  light, 

With  heavenly  train,  shone  round  the  globe. 

THE    NATAL    HOUE. 

Decorate  the  Thirtieth  of  May!  *  5 
Shall  we  now  the  great  act  deplore 
Which  gave  us  Kansas? — nevermore. 
She  was  called  fresh  from  the  dark  shore 

Of  Time;  she  came;  hail  mighty  day! 


20  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

All  hail!    'Kansas  this  day  was  born; 
Not  full-fledged  and  armed,  like  fair 
Minerva  from  the  matted  hair 
Of  Jove,  to  wing  her  flight  in  air, 

And  chant  "Ad  astra"  to  the  inorn; 

But  in  the  dark  and  sullen  storm 
Of  civil  strife;  like  one  without 
A  friend  or  home;  and  tossed  about 
Forlorn,  and  mocked  by  the  rude  shout 

Of  ruffian  bands  in  demon's  form. 

Sweet  Kansas  of  the  fragrant  plain  ! 
Thy  natal  hour  shall  mark  a  day 
Wreathed  in  flowery  love;  whose  bright  ray 
Shall  gild  the  world,  and  whose  sweet  lay 

Shall  charm,  like  some  ./Eolian  strain. 


Tlie  Song  of  Kansas.  21 

* 

III. 

THE     STRITGOT,E     IX    KAXSAS    WITH    FREEDOM     AOAIX8T     THE 
GREAT    HYDRA — AMKKlfAN    SI.AVKRY. 

AND  now  we  turn  the  sable  leaf 

Of  that  great  book  where  Time  records 
The  wrongs,  the  strifes,  the  bitter  words. 
Where  Vice  with  Error's  heart  accords, 

And  read  the  story  of  our  grief. 

Quaff  then  the  darker  drink,  brought  fresh 
From  Lethe's  stream;  for  sure  I  am 
That  when  this  world's  great  book  you  scan, 
Xo  darker  deeds  are  found,  where  man 

Against  mankind  in  living  flesh 

Has  waged  the  wrong.      Quaff  and  forget, 
That  e'er  the  issue  could  be  made, 
That  ever  premise  had  been  laid, 
That  ever  human  tongue  had  said, 

Where  man  his  brother  man  has  met, 

That  slavery  is  right. l  6     Here  then 
The  issue  came,  and  war  on  earth: 
Shall  Kansas  from  her  hallow'  d  birth 
Be  free  or  slave?     Proclaim  it  forth, 

And  heaven  and  hell  attend  on  men. 


22  The  Song  of  A'ansas. 

Slavery,  like  the  great  Python 
Apollo  slew; — bred  in  the  slime 
Of  earth; — whose  birth  was  the  first  crime 
Against  mankind,  and  that  sublime 

Iniquity  of  hell  to  dethrone 

The  rights  of  man,  now  crawling  winds 
Herein  in  slimy,  snaky  fold: 
Or  like  the  dragon  great  of  old, 
On  Thebes'  rich  plain  in  story  told, 

Great  Cadmus  slew,  and  wond'rous  finds 

That  from  his  teeth  sown  in  the  earth, 
A  race  of  men  comes  forth  from  clods, 
For  civil  strife;  and  whom  the  gods 
Turned  man  to  man,  barring  all  odds, 

Against  his  equal  man  by  birth. 

Python  and  dragon  both,  with  fierce 

And  bloody  mouth,  crawling  it  came; — 

Eyes  that  shot  forth  a  burning  flame 

Glared  round  for  prey;  and  naught  could  tame 

The  gloated  beast  of  hell,  nor  pierce 

Its  flinty  scales,  till  it  had  fed 

And  fattened  on  the  blood  and  flesh 

Of  Freedom's  sons.      This  past,  then  fresh 

From  ample  meal  the  vengeful  mesh 

He  slipped,  and  wounded,  writhing  fled. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  2 

But  e'er  that  time  let  me  recall, 

And  briefly  note,  some  deeds  of  crime, — 
Some  deeds  of  valor  won,  sublime 
To  stand  throughout  recorded  time, — 

Or  passing  note  how  heroes  fall. 

And  Slavery's  banner  now  unfurled 
Dark  on  the  breeze  of  Kansas  floats. 
Strange  flag  !   on  which  foul  Treason  dotes; 
Whereon  is  writ:    "Missouri  votes 

On  Kansas  soil,  or  bursts  a  world ! ' ' 

Classical  in  the  third  degree ! 

But  what  does  Slavery  care?  her  flag 
Floats  not  o'er  classic  halls;  her  rag 
Was  made  in  Freedom's  blood  to  drag, 

And  blazon  forth  iniquity. 

And  this  strange  flag  herein  they  send, 
Painted  in  black,  with  threats  of  war, 
And  words  of  hell,  —  and  from  afar 
Comes  the  red  flag  with  its  lone  star, 

And  the  ruffian  to  defend. 

Then  Slavery's  champions  these  words 
Proclaim:    "Come  direful  War  and  whet 
Thy  sword;  and  let  no  freeman  set 
His  foot  on  Kansas  soil, — 17  forget 

That  he  is  man,  ye  ruffian  hordes!1 8 


24  The  Song  of  JfttnMfc 

"Let  bogus  votes19  and  bogus  laws20 

Stand  as  the  will  of  God  !      Drive  out  2 1 
The  villain  cursed  who  talks  about 
The  '  Higher  Law  ! ' 2  2     Let  him  not  spout  2  3 
His  treason  here !     The  righteous  cause 

"Of  slavery  is  recognized 

By  the  first  law  of  man  and  God; — 
Kansas  we  own,  and  on  her  sod 
Shall  stand  no  man,  unless  he  nod 
To  our  great  Truth,  and  be  baptized 

"And  taken  into  fellowship 

With  all  the  dear,  beloved  ones 
Who  are  not  classed  with  Freedom's  sons. 
Give  to  Northern  men  solid  tons 
Of  iron  hail !  and  then  let  slip 

"The  dogs  of  War!     Let  no  church  ope 
The  door  to  him  who  cannot  pray 
For  Slavery's  cause  !24     Let  no  man  stay 
On  Kansas  soil,  who  casts  a  ray 
Of  heavenly  light  on  sinking  hope." 

Brave  Kansas !     Now  thy  bitter  hour 
Comes  like  a  gale  of  piercing  woe, — 
And  where  fair  Freedom  stands,  the  foe 
Unsheathes  his  sword.     Her  friends  bend  low 

The  neck  beneath  usurping  power. 


The  Song  of  Kcmsas.  25 

PARDEE    BUTLER. 

Strange  craft  appears  upon  the  breast 
Of  swift  Missouri's  stream, — a  boat 
Of  two  logs  made,  bound  fast  to  float, 
With  Pardee  Butler,  who  of  note 

Had  made  his  name.      Upon  his  crest 

The  letter  "R"  is  stamped; — and  flags 
Of  divers  kinds,  with  mottoes  rare 
And  quaint,  lend  to  the  ambient  air 
Weird  and  vile  visions  of  despair:  — 

But  Hope  cheers  him  while  Justice  lags.  2S 


CHARLES    W.   DOW. 

Now  falls  the  innocent  young  Dow, 
Wiiose  manly  breast  the  fatal  shot 
Received  unarmed.     No  fiend,  "come  hot 
From  hell,"  would  his  base  honor  blot, 

With  deed  so  base  as  this  foul  blow.  2  6 


WILLIAM    PHILLIPS. 

Brave  Phillips,  to  the  call  of  Truth, 
Protests  against  the  fraud  which  made 
Proud  Kansas  fall  within  the  shade 
Of  Slavery's  night,  and  he  is  laid 

Beneath  its  heel  with  no  relenting  ruth. 


3  Tlie  Song  of  Kansas. 

Torn  from  his  home,  where  tender  ties 
Bind  fast  the  heart,  —  borne  to  the  den 
Of  slimy  Vice  and  Hate,  and  then 
Shorn  of  his  hair,  and  bare  as  when 

On  earth  he  came,  prostrate  he  lies, 

A  fresh  victim  to  Slavery's  cause. 

Game  of  the  knights  of  tar  and  rail! 

Doomed  to  the  auction  block  and  sale! 

He  passed  a  work  of  rare  entail 
According  to  the  "-bogus"  laws. 

This  done,  and  sanctioned  by  a  call 
Of  Slavery's  "law  and  order"  men, 
A  band  of  ruffians  from  their  den, 
Into  his  bright  home,  where  children 

Clasp  his  knees,  and  tender  cries  fall 

On  his  sad  heart,  and  where  dear  wife 
Implores  and  prays,  and  where  to  save 
A  life  the  law  protects  a  slave 
As  well  as  king,  carne  this  conclave 

And  there  struck  down  a  sacred  life.  2  7 

THOMAS    W.   BARBER. 

And  Barber  fell  in  rural  shade, 

Where  loving  wife  had  taught  to  twine 
Around  his  door  the  blooming  vine, 
Who  shared  his  kiss  in  love  divine 

And  his  bright  home  an  Eden  made.  2  8 


The  /Song  of  Kansas.  27 

How  sad  and  cold  the  wintry  day, 

When  his  soul  passed  within  the  vale 
Of  death.      The  winds  took  up  the  wail 
Of  grief,  and  bore  it  on  the  gale. 

Then  freemen  gazed  on  his  cold  clay, 

And  called  on  Heaven,  and  raised  the  hand 
And  swore  to  sow,  and  then  to  reap 
The  seed  which  Freedom  cast,  nor  sleep 
Till  the  avenging  sword  shall  sweep 

Her  base-born  foes  from  out  the  land. 

ANDREW    H.    EEEDER. 

Then  Reeder's  life  they  seek. a<J     The  red 
Hand  of  Murder  now  waits  to  strike. 
His  manly  justice  they  dislike, 
And  bowie-knife  and  deadly  pike 

Admonish  him.      Then  sad  he  fled; 

For  he  had  learned  to  lo.ve  this  land 
Of  blooming  verdure  and  renown. 
'Neath  shade  of  night,  no  name  to  own, 
Disguised,  he  stole  away  unknown, 

Dreading  the  blow  of  Slavery1  s  hand. 

Then  in  his  secret  refuge  waits 

For  his  escape,  —  what  oaths  he  hears! 
What  direful  threats  !   what  torture  bears  ! 
What  serves  the  honors  that  he  wears? 

All  these  would  fall  by  Southern  hates. 


28  The  Swig  of  Kansas. 

Now  sees,  within  his  recess  dim, 
The  dagger  waiting  for  his  life. 
How  breaks  his  heart  in  secret  strife, 
How  yearns  for  home,  where  weeping  wife 

And  waiting  children  pray  for  him  ! 

THE    INVASION. 

Blow  now  the  blast  of  direful  War! 

Call  in  the  hordes  of  "Southern  Rights!" 
Come  from  Virginia's  mountain  heights! 
Come  from  the  ocean,  where  delights 

To  float  the  flag  with  the  "Lone  Star."30 

And  let  Missouri  now  stand  forth, 
A  solid  phalanx  on  the  call 
Of  sheriff  !     Let  her  bring  her  small 
Arms  and  weighty  cannon,  and  all 

Her  chivalry,  to  crush  the  North.31 

LAWRENCE. 

Why?     Nestled  in  Hie  lovely  vale 
Where  now  the  Kansas  gently  flows 
Serene,  and  where  the  lily  grows, 
Like  drooping  Love  beside  the  rose, 

And  where  the  powers  of  Peace  prevail, 

There  Lawrence  stands,  a  lovely  queen 

Of  May.    Sweet  Lawrence !  Freedom's  child  ! 
Cradled  in  love,  and  taught  the  mild 
And  gentle  ways  of  Truth,  she  smiled 

In  graceful  beauty  not  unseen. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  29 

The  love  of  man  for  man  she  taught; 

She  taught  that  human  rights  are  dear; 

She  loved  the  home,  and  sought  to  cheer 

Sad  hearts;  and  she  erected  here 
A  citadel  for  honest  thought. 

This  was  enough.      With  sullen  look 
Great  guns  of  war  on  Oread 
Frown  down  on  her  defenseless  head. 
And  now  the  baleful  star  has  said: 

•  Her  doom  is  writ  in  Fate' s  great  book. "  3  2 

Then  came  indictments  and  grave  writs 
For  treason,  construction  of,  or  high; 
Which  had  been  found  with  legal  eye, 
'  In  ample  form  and  quality, 

And  sanctioned  by  juristic  wits. 

So  ordered  by  Lecompte,  the  great 

First  Justice,  Chief; — upon  whose  head 

Had  clustered  all  the  glory  shed 

By  Southern  laws; — whose  life  was  fed 

On  that  rare  meat,  early  and  late, 

Which  doth  enchant  and  chain  the  mind, — 
While  Slavery  had  entwined  around 
His  heart,  —  and  in  whose  smile  he  found 
That  pure,  sweet  grace,  which  doth  confound 

Justice  and  those  to  her  inclined.  3  3 


30  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Three  victims  now  for  treason  34  stand 
In  proud  sublimity,  —  each  name 
Denotes  its  cause;  its  public  fame; 
Its  noble  birth,  and  why  it  came 

To  do  its  work  sublimely  grand. 

Free  State  Hotel — Kansas  Free  State  — 
Herald  of  Freedom,  —  these  the  foes 
Of  Slavery's  cause; — here  were  the  woes 
From  "Bogus"  laws  denounced, — here  blows 

For  Justice  struck  sublimely  great. 

"Blow  up  the  fortress  Freedom  built  ! 

Let  cannon  roar  !     Tear  down  the  wall ! 
Cast  out  the  press  !     The  shattering  fall 
Will  silence  speech !      Set  fire  to  all 
Within,  and  crush  the  freeman's  guilt!"  — 

These  the  hoarse^houts  of  Sheriff  Jones. 
The  savage  work  is  done,  and  there 
The  fiends  of  hell  ride  in  the  air; 
And  frowning  furies  of  despair 

Shriek  their  shrill  notes  in  dismal  tones. 

Carry  the  news,  oh  Crime !  nor  lag 
In  thy  hot  haste,  to  herald  forth 
The  fall  of  Lawrence  and  the  North ! 
Now  over  all,  in  matchless  worth 

To  Southern  cause,  the  great  red  flag, 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  31 

Whereon  the  lone  star  shines,  there  waves 
And  flaunts  insulting  in  the  gale; — • 
But  Freedom,  listening,  heard  the  wail 
Of  her  three  friends,  and  saw  the  trail 

Of  Treason  passing  o'  er  their  graves.  3  5 

Lawrence,  you  yet  shall  drink  the  cup 
Of  gall,  and  wear  the  weeds  of  woe; — 
You  yet  shall  feel  the  savage  blow 
And  deadly  shaft  from  Treason's  bow, — 

Yet  go  down  and  with  Affliction  sup.  3  6 

Tin's  past,  the  victor's  crown  shall  wear. 

Lawrence,  no  more  thy  fate  bewail ! 

Sprung  from  the  ashes,  thee  we  hail, 

Immortal  Phoanix  of  the  vale ! 
And  thy  proud  name  and  glory  share. 

Here  shall  our  children  joyous  come, 

From  Learning's  ample  fount  to  drink; — 
Perhaps  from  Euclid  here  to  shrink, 
And  with  poetic  Virgil,  link 

The  Trojan  race  to  that  of  Rome. 

Or  here  in  academic  shade 

V/ith  Plato  walk;  or  find  tne  school 
AVhere  Athens'  sage  made  wise  the  fool; 
Or  trace  beneath  the  tyrant's  rule 

Great  states,  and  see  their  glory  fade; 


32  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Or  here,  in  some  sequestered  spot, 
The  song  and  theme  of  poet  praise; 
Or  from  the  heights  of  Oread  gaze 
On  other  worlds,  and  catch  the  rays 

Of  suns  whose  years  bewilder  thought. 

FREEDOM'  s  CHAMPION. 

Now  the  great  Nestor  of  debate, 

The  manly  Sumner,  stands  with  bold 
And  godlike  front,  and  there  unrolled 
The  scroll  of  Infamy,  and  told 

How  nations  fall  and  how  grow  great, — 

And  waiting  Senate  listening  heard. 
The  Nation  heard;  and  heard  the  foul 
And  sodden  South,  who  then  with  scowl 
Of  visage  dire  sent  forth  a  howl, 

In  answer  to  the  heavenly  word. 

Kansas  his  theme,  —  of  crime  to  tell, 
Which  he  flung  down  at  Slavery's  door. 
Then  Slavery  struck,  —  'tis  writ  in  lore 
Of  hell,  —  and  down  on  Senate  floor, 

Beneath  the  blow,  great  Sumner  fell.  3  7 

LIBERTY    AND    JOHN    BROWN. 

Then  Liberty,  who  long  had  wept 
O'er  crimes  committed  in  her  name, 
Took  her  sad  flight  from  halls  where  Fame 
Had  blazoned  forth  her  deeds,  and  came 

On  sable  wing  of  Night,  where  kept 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  33 

Her  sacred  watch-fire  burning  bright 
On  Kansas  soil,  the  great  John  Brown. 
Him  she  found; — not  in  busy  town, 
Or  soft  on  easy  couch  lain  down; 

But  on  the  grassy  plain,  where  Isight 

With  scent  of  flower  and  gentle  dew 
Kefreshed,  —  him  sad  and  lowly  bent 
In  fervent  prayer,  and  turbulent 
Unrest  she  found; — then  flashing  sent 

O'er  him  her  radiant  light,  and  threw 

Her  armor  down,  and  thus  began: 
"Great  friend  of  man  and  liberty, 
My  name  and  cause  shall  honored  be 
In  this  broad  land  from  sea  to  sea; 

Soon  shall  Slavery's  course  be  run. 

"But  ere  that  time,  a  mighty  hand, 
AVell  worthy  of  the  Titan  race, 
Must  here  be  raised,  and  in  the  face 
Of  Treason  break  the  lance,  and  chase 
Its  furies  howling  from  the  land. 

"Here  in  the  shade  of  sacred  Night, 
With  all  her  stars  and  heavenly  train 
Of  worshipers  who  brightly  reign 
On  high  to  note,  thy  soul  I  chain 
To  my  great  cause,  and  give  thee  sight 


34  The  Song  of  Kcmsas. 

"And  holy  light  to  see  divine. 

On  thee  now  falls  the  blessed  ray 
Which  gilds  my  shield,  and  naught  shall  stay 
My  onward  march,  until  the  day 
I  love  shall  here  in  glory  shine. 

"Thee  have  I  called,  like  John  of  old, 

Who  the  dear  Savior's  course  forerun, — 
And  thee  baptize  my  holy  son, 
With  fire,  in  name  of  Holy  One. 
Now  here  within  my  hand  I  hold 

"What  the  great  John  of  Patmos  said 

Should  be  in  time  outpoured  on  earth, — 
Vials  of  wrath; — their  deadly  worth 
Is  needed  now,  —  for  fierce  from  birth 
The  serpent  old  holds  high  his  head. 

"Into  this  vial  now  I  put  the  tears, 

Which  loving  wives  and  children  shed 
In  Kansas,  o'er  their  murdered  dead. 
Here  is  a  lock  of  hair  from  head 
Of  Sumner,  with  fresh  blood  it  bears;— 

"Here  is  the  blood  of  murdered  Dow, 

Barber,   Brown,  38    Jones,  39    and    Stewart 

brave; 

Five  sons  of  mine  now  in  their  grave, — 
This  pang  their  passing  spirits  gave 
And  cried  in  woe:    'Make  Treason  bow  ! ' 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  35 

"Hero  is  the  anguish  of  their  hearts 

Which  through  my  drooping  spirit  runs; — 
Here  are  the  groans  these  dying  sons 
Have  left,  and  prayers  for  darling  ones, 
And  kiss  while  ebbing  life  departs; — 

"Here  the  torn  flesh  and  bloody  scars, 
And  damning  insult  Phillips  stood; — 
From  Butler's  craft  a  piece  of  wood; — 
Here  is  a  drop  of  virgin  blood 
Ravished  by  fiends  beneath  my  stars; — 

"The  ashes  here  of  Lawrence,  —  there 
The  type  of  press,  the  drunken  glee, — 
The  dust  from  trail  of  Treason  see; — 
Here  is  the  bullet  shot  at  me, 
And  here  the  slimy  serpent's  glare. 

"These  'Bogus'  votes  you  see  were  cast 

By  ruffian  hordes,  and  these  their  rags; — 
Here  the  ruffian  words  on  flags; — 
Here  the  hoarse  laugh  while  Justice  lags, 
And  here  the  '  Bogus  Laws '  at  last. 

"All  these  into  this  vial  go ! 

Now  soak,  and  shake,  and  let  distill. 
Behold  another  one  I  fill ! 
Here  from  the  sword  of  Bunker  Hill 
Drops  the  base  blood  of  foreign  foe; — • 


36  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

"Here  is  the  sigh  which  Warren  gave, 
As  his  sweet  spirit  passed  on  high; — 
Here  the  keen  glance  of  Putnam's  eye; — 
Here  Franklin's  thought;  and  here  the  cry 
Of  Henry:    'Freedom  or  the  grave  !' 

"Here  the  patriot  pen  of  Paine, 

And  here  the  deeds  of  Washington; — 
Here  are  his  battles  lost  and  won; 
And  here  the  dust  of  every  son 
Of  mine  who  in  that  cause  was  slain; — 

"Here  the  swift  shaft  which  Jackson  sent 
Full  at  the  front  of  Treason; — here 
The  hot  words  which  Tallmadge,  dear 
And  grand  to  every  freeman's  ear, 
Hurled  back  at  Cobb,  and  fatal  went. 4  ° 

"This  is  enough.      This  vial  keep; 
For  you  will  need  the  lighter  drink 
When  Death  shall  take  you  home;  nor  sink 
Beneath  the  awful  thought;  nor  think 
The  draught  not  good;  for  your  last  sleep 

"Shall  come  and  pass  in  awful  form; 
And  you  shall  heave  the  broken  sigh, 
And  grandly  on  the  scaffold  die, — 
Then  with  the  patriots  you  shall  lie, 
Unmindful  of  the  passing  storm. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  37 

"But  here,  this  darker  drink  now  quaff! " 
This  then  she  handed  him,  and  Brown 
Arose  and  said  :    "The  thorny  crown 
I  wear,  nor  do  I  seek  renown, — 
The  stormy  path  I  tread,  thy  staff 

'Supports  me  now;"  —  and  then  he  drank. 

This  now  infused  all  fear  forsook, 

And  all  his  vital  spirits  shook. 

Then  opened  he  the  Holy  Book, 
And  said:    "Great  Author,  Thee  I  thank 

'For  counsels  in  my  hour  of  need: 
'An  eye  for  eye,  and  tooth  for  tooth,' 
This  is  no  fond,  no  gentle  ruth, 
No  smooth,  gilt-edged  or  varnished  truth  — 

Within  this  book  I  find  my  creed;  41 

'Its  counsels  wise  shall  guide  my  feet. 
'Tis  written  here  in  holy  word: 
'Christ  came  not  peace  to  bring,  but  sword, — 
To  Him  I  bow,  as  my  great  Lord. 
His  truth  is  ample  and  complete." 

This  said,  the  goddess  took  her  flight, 
And  back  on  sable  wing  she  sped, 
With  flashing  halo  round  her  head, — 
By  fair  Columbia's  hand  was  led 

Through  all  the  glittering  train  of  Night. 


38  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Great  soul  inspired!   whet  now  thy  sword, — 
Not  in  revenge,  but  to  protect 
The  land,  where  Freedom  may  erect 
Her  home;  where  safely  her  elect 

May  come  and  live  in  sweet  accord. 

This  is  the  land  where  first  began 
The  holy  work  in  Virtue's  cause, — 
Where  men  demanded  righteous  laws 
And  justice  unto  all,  —  here  was 

The  sword  once  more  unsheathed  for  man. 

Not  like  the  sword  of  cherubim, 
Who  stood  of  old  at  Eden's  gate, 
To  guard  the  path  against  those  great 
First  trespassers  on  God's  estate 

In  earth,  as  sung  in  holy  hymn; — 

That  was  a  flaming  sword  of  fire, 
Drawn  by  ghostly  hand,  and  could 
Not  stand  the  test  of  steel,  nor  should 
We  deem  it  more  than  that  which  would 

In  rain  or  weeping  dew  expire; — 

But  here  on  holy  Kansas  soil, 

Stout  hearts,  and  kind  and  true,  were  made 
To  seek  the  virtue  of  a  blade, 
Keen  as  old  Damascus,  which  stayed 

The  march  of  ravenous  fiends  of  spoil. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  39 

It  was  a  blade  two-edged  and  strong, 
And  sharp  and  true,  as  that  which  rung 
In  Gideon's  hand,  by  poet  sung, — 
It  was  the  blade  which  Justice  hung 

O'  er  sinful  heads,  and  deeds  of  wrong.  4  2 

A  blow  in  retribution  struck 

Now  falls: — for  those  five  sons  who  died 
In  Freedom's  cause,  five  from  the  side 
Of  Slavery  now  shall  pass  the  tide:  — 

No  hand  of  Pity  tries  to  pluck 

Them  from  his  grasp,  —  no  kindly  call 
Of  Mercy  can  his  blade  elude, — 
Savage  it  fell,  and  sharp  and  rude, 
As  Samuel  into  pieces  hewed 

King  Agag,  with  the  sword  of  Saul. 

Sweet  month  of  May  !  thy  tender  hand 
Now  spreads  the  verdure  of  the  year, — 
The  rose  and  vine  twine  am'rous  near 
The  door;  the  song  of  bird  we  hear, 

And  midst  thy  blissful  beauties  stand. 

At  such  a  time,  in  sylvan  shade, 

The  sword  of  Justice  fell.      The  stroke 
Crashed    through    the    serpent's    scales, --it 

broke 
The  deadly  coil,  and  curling  smoke 

And  flaming  fire  bespoke  the  blade. 


4:0  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Now  Freedom's  sons  stand  forth  once  more, 
Encouraged  to  protect  their  homes, — 
And  in  her  weeds  the  widow  comes 
To  urge,  and  tears  of  little  ones 

Brave  fathers  kiss  away,  implore, 

For  sturdy  hand  and  manly  heart, 
To  wage  the  battle  of  the  North, — 
And  it  was  done.     And  then  came  forth 
The  power  for  deeds  of  solid  worth, 

Which  forced  the  monster  to  depart. 

In  writhing  agony  he  went,  4  3 

With  brutal  Murder  in  his  path, — 

No  mercy  now,  no  pity  hath ! 

And  coiling  fierce  in  fire  and  wrath, 

Seems  Hell  on  dire  destruction  bent. 

Aloft  the  bloody  scalp  he  waves,  4  4 

The  dripping  blood  rests  on  his  brow, — 
Kills  the  poor  cripple  at,  his  plow,  45 
And  swears  to  make  all  freemen  bow, 

Or  send  them  bleeding  to  their  graves. 

But  hark!     It  is  brave  Walker's  voice 
As  he  commands,  and  stern  report 
Of  Freedom's  guns  as  they  on  fort 
Of  Titus  belch  their  fiery  sport. 

A  shout:  'tis  "Freemen,  now  rejoice!" 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  41 

The  type  from  Freedom's  press  are  cast 
For  Freedom's  guns,  and  back  they  fling 
The  leaden  speech  on  fiery  wing. 
Lecompton  fell !     No  one  may  sing 

Her  praise,  —  damned  by  a  name  at  last. 46 

COL.    JOHN   W.    GEARV. 

When  manly  Geary  said:    "I  know 

No  North,  no  South,  no  East,  no  West, 
Nor  aught  but  that  which  serveth  best 
For  Kansas;  this  is  my  behest, 

That  right  and  gentle  peace  may  grow; 

'That  war  may  stop,  blood  cease  to  flow; 
That  we  as  men  must  stand  or  fall 
Beneath  one  flag  which  waves  for  all: — 
Nor  ask  of  me  that  I  recall 

The  fierce,  foul  harvester  of  woe." 

Scarce  did  he  dream  that  the  foul  blow 
Of  deadly  knife  for  him  should  wait, — 
That  the  red  hand  and  direful  hate 
Of  Slavery  would  carve  out  his  fate, 

And  scourge  and  fill  his  life  with  woe. 4  7 

And  why?     No  flag  does  Slavery  know, 
But  that  which  waves  for  Southern  cause. 
The  starry  flag  rebukes  her  laws ! 
Nor  any  land  wins  her  applause, 

Where  seeds  of  Treason  will  not  grow. 


42  The  Song  of  J&tnsas. 

Teacli  Dis  to  smile !     Foul  Treason  wed 
To  Justice  !     Paint  beauty  for  the  blind  ! 
Give  demons  heavenly  words  and  kind ! 
The  hundred-headed  Hydra  bind  ! 

This  is  what  Geary  tried,  and  fled. 


And  now  we  see  the  bloody  hand 

And  torch  pass  over  beauteous  Linn, — 48 
For  there  had  come  to  dwell  within 
This  garden  spot  brave  men,  whose  sin 

It  only  was  to  bravely  stand 

By  Freedom's  cause.     With  fond  intent 
To  build  their  homes,  here  by  the  side 
Of  peaceful  stream,  or  prairie  wide, 
Or  where  the  oak  in  forest  pride 

Outstretched  his  arms,  they  pitched  their  tent. 

And  here  where  Little  Sugar  winds, 
And  gently  flows  in  graceful  sweep, 
'Neath  rugged  hills  that,  high  and  steep, 
In  sylvan  shade  and  grandeur  sleep, 

His  sacred  home  the  patriot  finds. 

Nestled  beneath  these  ancient  hills, 

Whose  beauties  challenge  foreign  lands, 
In  landscape  made  by  heavenly  hands, 
The  friend  of  man,  MOUND  CITY  stands, 

Her  history  with  rapture  thrills. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  43 

Home  of  Montgomery  !   who  here 

The  battles  of  fair  Freedom  fought, — 

Sacred  the  soil,  and  dearly  bought 

By  blood  of  her  brave  men,  who  thought 

Their  liberty  as  life  is  dear. 

OSAWANDA. 

'Twas  on  the  Little  Osage,  just  below 

The  point  at  which  the  river,  winding  slow, 

Touches  the  belt  of  rocky  timber  hills 

Which  stretching  far  away  to  westward  fills 

Out  the  landscape  of  prairie  grove  and  glade. 

This  touched  with  morning  light  and  passing  shade 

Made  pictures  fairer  than  a  painter's  dream, 

Through  which  the  ready  rays  of  Nature  gleam. 

Here  happy  June  with  sweetly-scented  breeze 

Had  decked  the  earth  in  green,  and  blooming  trees 

Lit  up  the  scene,  and  set  with  vernal  flame 

The  flow'  ry  picture  in  a  leafy  frame. 

Here  Genius  bold,  aspiring  to  be  great, 

Drops  the  tired  brush,  and  Nature  strikes  in  hate 

The  hand  of  him  who  tries  to  imitate. 

To  such  a  spot  as  this  in  Kansas  came 

Young  Rubin:   Northern  blood,  and  sturdy  frame 

Inured  to  toil,  a  will  for  any  fate. 

Thus  stood  a  living  factor  of  a  State 

To  be,  —  which  prophesied  by  such  as  him 

Should  come,  —  not  in  the  ages  dim, 


44  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

But  soon,  —  and  panoplied  in  Freedom's  dower 
Of  righteousness,  and  girt  about  with  power. 
First,  here  into  this  valley  fair  he  came, — 
The  first  to  mark  the  bound' ries  of  his  claim, — 
First  to  select  the  spot  and  cabin  build, 
With  soul  elate,  of  fairy  fancies  filled. 
Then  in  his  many  wakeful  dreams  by  day, 
Which  ran  like  some  unpastured  colt  at  play, 
While  to  his  axe  the  nodding  trees  would  bow, 
Or  while  a-field  and  plodding  at  the  plow, 
He  caught  the  vision  of  a  blissful  home,- 
A  home  where   young    and   happy  wife   should 

come,  — 

Where  barns  were  full  and  plenty  cheered  the  board 
And  where  his  title  deed  should  own  him  lord. 
'Twas  thus  he  mused  and  thus  he  pictured  all, 
And  hung  the  picture  on  his  cabin  wall. 
Such  men  are  in  demand  and  win  their  way 
To  wealth  and  power,  to  love  and  song,  and  play 
With  Fate  as  reckless  as  a  truant  boy 
O'erleaps  the  rules  of  school,  or  laughs  for  joy. 
Nor  are  they  sought  in  vain.      The  neighbor  goes 
To  such  in  faith,  and  breathes  his  painful  woes 
Or  pleasures  soft  into  the  willing  ear, 
And  finds  a  friend  who  ne'er  disdains  to  hear. 
There  the  glad  soul  may  list  to  pleasure's  lay 
And  joyous  wile  the  happy  hours  away: — 
Or  aching  heart  may  plaint  its  doleful  psalm 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  45 

Of  life,  and  find  the  ready  unctuous  balm 
Unstinted  poured  on  wounds  by  one  who  shares 
His  weary  ways,  and  mournful,  cumbrous  cares: — 
Or  here,  when  hearts  awake  the  conscious  flame 
Of  mated  love,  responsive  to  the  heavenly  name, 
May  feel  the  fervor  and  the  power  divine 
Of  Home,  where  all  the  cares  and  bliss  of  life  com- 
bine. 


'Twas  June,  as  I  have  said  before, 

And  somehow  Rubin's  thoughts  would  turn 
To  love,  —  the  thought  would  Rubin  spurn. 
Untaught  of  Love,  how  could  he  learn 
Without  some  angel  at  his  door 

To  light  this  candle  of  the  soul  ? 

But  there  would  come  to  him,  untaught, 
The  vision  of  some  hallow' d  thought; 
Some  fairy  form  by  fancy  caught, 

Which  stayed  beyond  the  will's  control. 

Then  would  he  heave  the  heavy  sigh, 
As  in  that  vision  he  could  trace 
The  rounded  form,  the  living  grace, 
The  luster  of  a  shining  face, 

The  flowing  hair  and  flashing  eye. 


46  The  Song  of  Kansas, 

Thus  with  some  book  of  modern  lore, 
He  musing  sat,  beneath  a  high 
Old  oak,  whose  shadow,  creeping  by, 
Seemed  to  the  stranger  drawing  nigh 

To  point  a  welcome  to  his  door. 

The  stupid  leaves  he  fumbled  o'er, 

But  dallied  with  Love's  dream  of  old, — 
His  mind  the  pages  could  not  hold; 
And  when  he  raised  his  eyes,  behold ! 

She  stood  before  his  cabin  door. 

Dumb  and  transfixed  he  sat,  while  he 
Beheld  his  fairest  thought  fulfilled. 
Oh  !  for  the  ready  brush  of  skilled 
Hogarth,  to  catch  the  scene  that  thrilled 

His  trembling  spirit's  phantasy. 

Glossy  and  black  as  raven's  wing, 
Was  her  bounteous  flowing  hair. 
Down  o'er  her  neck  and  shoulders  fair, 
It  softly  fell,  that  these  might  share 

The  woman's  wealth  the  Graces  bring. 

Here  fell  on  his  enraptured  sight 
The  full-orbed  glory  of  her  eyes; 
Whose  modest  lids  in  soft  surprise 
Half  hid  the  blue  which  mocked  the  skies. 

Her  clustering  teeth,  faultless  and  white, 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  47 

And  half-confined  by  ruby  lips, 

Laughed  within  their  pearly  bed. 

Beauty  flies  round  the  radiant  head, 

And,  like  the  bee  by  passion  led, 
Dies  in  the  nectar  that  she  sips. 

Her  hand  was  small,  her  waist  was  trim, 
The  hat  was  jaunty;  and  bestud 
With  leaves  and  grasses  of  the  wood; — 
And  a  wild  flower  with  opening  bud 

Was  lurking  just  beneath  the  rim. 

Gracefully  from  her  dapple  gray, 

Which  saddleless  she  rode,  she  dropped 
Upon  her  slippered  feet,  and  stopped 
Before  the  door  half-open  propped, 

To  greet  the  owner  with  "Good  day." 

But  ere  she  had  espied  him,  he 
Came  up;  and  in  a  bashful  way 
Thus  said:    "How  do  you  do  to-day? 
A  little  dandy  dapple  gray 

You  ride  !   What  can  your  errand  be?  " 

Startled,  and  coyly,  she  replied: 
k  •  My  father  sent  me  here  to  know, 

If  you  would  come  to-day,  and  go 

With  him,  to  warn  a  family  or  so 
To  leave  the  creek,  —  they  are  deep-dyed 


48  The  Swig  of  Kansas. 

"Abolitionists,  so  'tis  said; — 
And  at  a  meeting  held  to-day, 
It  was  ruled  that  they  cannot  stay,— 
But  before  /would  go  away, 
If  them,  I  would  fight  till  I  was  dead." 

"What  is  your  name,  if  I  may  ask," 
Said  Rubin  with  a  twinkle  in 
His  eye,  —  "Come  here  and  sit  within 
This  shade,  and  tell  me  what  the  sin 
So  great,  that  I  must  do  this  task?" 

So  saying,  he  took  the  bridle  rein 
Of  Gray,  and  led  the  blushing  maid 
To  a  rustic  seat,  within  the  shade 
Of  that  old  oak,  which  he  had  made 

The  campus  of  his  new  domain. 

She  bashful  said:    "My  name  is  Ruth, — 
But  still  I  have  another  name, 
To  which  I  answer  just  the  same; 
And  I  like  it  better,  —  for  it  came, 

If  the  Osages  tell  the  truth, 

"Just  like  a  snowflake  from  the  sky. 
Now  pardon,  how  it  is  so  dear 
To  me:  My  father  came  out  here 
Some  years  ago  to  hunt  the  deer, 
When  only  ten  years  old  was  I. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  49 

"Mother  and  babies  too,  all  went 

With  hunters  then,  —  father  was  out, — 
I  left  alone  to  run  about 
The  camp,  when  came  an  Indian  scout, 
And  stole  me  from  my  father's  tent. 

"Soon  was  I  tied  upon  a  horse, — 

Terrible  and  tiresome  was  the  ride,— 
Well  I  recall  the  prayers  denied; 
And  how  I  plead,  and  moaned  and  cried, 
To  waken  pity  or  remorse. 

"But  all  in  vain.      Would  Heaven  forsake? 
No.      Sleep  to  me  her  blessing  gave, 
And  in  the  morning  a  young  brave, 
Kneeling  o'er  me,  said:    'Now  I  save 
OSAWANDA,  —  pretty  snowflake.' 

"How  he  saved  his  little  Snowflake, 
Need  not  here  be  told,  —  he  became 
My  guardian  friend; — no  other  fame 
He  sought,  —  and  I  love  the  name 
Of  Osawanda  for  his  sake. 

"Five  years  o'er  sandy  plains  to  roam, 
We  swept  the  desert  side  by  side, — 
This  was  his  choicest  steed,  his  pride, — 
This  gave  to  me,  —  this  did  I  ride 
In  his  long  search  to  bring  me  home." 


50  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Transfixed,  intent  to  hear,  and  charmed, 

Was  Rubin  in  his  rustic  seat; 

"While  Osawanda,  bright  and  sweet 

As  a  May  morn,  told  in  a  neat 
And  airy  way  how  she,  unharmed, 

Was  brought  home  to  her  father's  door. 
While  she  thus  poured  into  his  ear 
Her  lay,  a  mocking-bird,  with  clear 
Unbroken  notes,  whose  mate  was  near, 

Poured  forth,  as  upward  he  did  soar 

From  the  topmost  branch  of  that  tall 
Oak,  his  heavenly,  amorous  song:  — 
Then  in  mid  air  —  as  if  his  long 
Drawn  strain  had  storm' d  his  passion  strong, 

And  thrilled  by  his  own  notes,  in  all 

Their  flood  of  melody  —  would  fall 
From  air  to  tree,  and  falling  die 
Of  his  own  song  in  ecstasy; — 
But  they  were  deaf  to  the  wild  cry 

Of  bird,  and  his  melodious  call. 

That  mighty  tyrant  of  the  heart, 

Eros,  had  come.  The  captive  chains 
Are  there,  with  all  their  ruby  stains; 
And  all  the  arms  of  him  who  reigns 

By  the  tragic  splendors  of  his  dart. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  51 

Now,  through  his  spirit  wildly  roll, 
In  fierce  delight,  the  forces  that 
Are  felt  in  love  and  war;  which  at 
Her  touch  he  felt,  as  there  he  sat, 

In  the  focus  of  her  burning  soul. 

Then  Rubin  quickly  to  reply, 

Patting  the  face  of  Dapple  Gray 

To  him  softly  said:    "And  I  must  say 

I  love  you,  for  your  rider  gay 

Hath  charmed  me  with  her  dark  blue  eye." 

Then  he  to  Osawanda  said: 
"Fair  one,  should  I  join  in  this  raid 
Against  the  homesteads  which  are  made 
By  other  honest  men  ?     This  shade 

Is  not  more  dear  to  my  poor  head 

'Than  theirs  to  them.      No.      I  will  not! 
Tell  your  father  that  in  this  world 
There '  s  room,  — that  vengeance  shall  be  hurled 
On  him,  when  o'er  his  head  is  furled 

The  flag  of  freedom,  —  and  a  blot 

'Shall  stain  the  coward  soul  of  him 

Who  will  not  stand  by  human  rights; — 
That  honor  crowns  his  life  who  fights 
For  that  in  which  Fair  Play  delights, 

And  all  the  world  his  praises  sing. 


52  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

"Sweet  Snowflake!  let  your  mission  be, 
Like  thy  pure  name  in  mercy  given, 
A  white-winged  messenger  from  heaven, — 
Let  not  homes  from  them  be  riven 
Whose  hearts  now  beat  for  Liberty. 

"Let  your  mission  be  peace,  not  strife. 
To  this  just  end  be  quick  to  dare; 
And  to  protect  this  Snowflake  fair, 
With  all  that  in  me  lies,  I  swear 
By  the  charmed  story  of  your  life." 

While  thus  he  spoke,  he  gently  took 
Unconsciously  her  hand, —  the  fair 
One  conscious,  and  his  zeal  to  share 
Thought  him  most  grand,  and  charmed  him 
there 

By  the  mute  eloquence  of  her  look. 

But  now  the  lengthened  shadows  came 

Which  told  that  Nature's  day  was  done, — 
And  as  the  summer  hours  are  run, 
And  harvests  ripen  in  the  sun, 

So  in  the  rays  of  Love's  full  flame, 

In  those  eventful  summer  hours, 
Which  softly  ran  unconscious  by, 
Hath  ripened  into  ecstasy 
Two  hearts,  which  now  shall  pant  and  sigh 

For  stolen  interviews,  and  shady  bowers. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  53 

She  took  the  reins:    "Down  !   Kansas,  down  ! " 
She  said,  and  Dapple,  bending  low, 
Received  her  with  a  graceful  bow. 
Away  she  swept,  but  on  her  brow 

There  sat  the  shadow  of  a  frown. 

'A  new  world!"   Rubin  cried  aloud, 

As  on  she  sped  among  the  trees; — 
"A  world  which  one  not  only  sees, 

But  seeing  loves,  like  the  soft  breeze 
In  balmy  June,  with  floating  cloud." 

Osawanda  was  called  plain  Ruth 
At  home,  for  there  no  other  name 
"Would  answer,  even  though  it  came 
Full  of  old  romance,  or  in  flame 

Of  love,  or  deeds  of  tender  sooth. 

And  then  the  ready  way  wherein 
Young  Rubin  always  called  her  by 
Her  Indian  name,  seemed  now  to  lie 
Close  to  her  heart,  —  and  her  blue  eye 

Sparkled  as  she  thought  of  him. 

At  home,  she  met  the  cold  and  stern 
Rebuff,  —  that  roughness  which  denies 
The  tender,  soft  amenities, 
Which  speak  in  smiles,  and  laughing  eyes, 

And  tones  which  loving  hearts  discern. 


54  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

And  then  she  mused  while  going  home, 
How  Rubin  said  that  she  was  fair, — 
And  how  he  praised  her  flowing  hair. 
Oh  !  what  a  change  to  mortal  pair, 

In  one  sweet  hour  of  love  will  come ! 

But  now,  the  Fates  fly  round  the  hour ! 
'Twas  late  when  she  arrived  at  home, — 
Long  had  they  looked  for  her  to  come; 
And  in  their  weary  waiting,  some- 
How  overlooked  the  latent  power, 

Which  lay  within  the  melting  heart 

Of  this  young  girl's  fresh  womanhood; 
Which,  when  evoked,  is  not  withstood, 
When  she  is  in  the  tender  mood, 

By  all  the  outward  forms  of  art; — 

And  they  dreamed  not  that  Love,  with  his 
Seductive  arts,  might  counterfoil 
Their  schemes,  by  digging  in  sweet  toil, 
Within  that  garden,  whose  virgin  soil 

Productive  is  of  mysteries. 

The  father  sternly  thus  began 
"Ruth,  you  're  late !     Did  you  notify 
That  scamp  about  what's  in  our  eye? 
These  fellows  must  all  leave  or  die." 
"Yes,"  said  Ruth,  and  away  she  ran, 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  55 

With  Dapple  to  the  shed;  for  she 
Was  then  unable  to  control 
The  bursting  tumults  of  her  soul. 
O  Time! — give  time!   and  back  will  roll 

The  dashing  waves  of  this  high  sea. 

Alone  witli  Dapple,  she  began 

To  try  her  voice, — pet  names  by  rote 
Would  call,  and  stroked  his  glossy  coat, 
But  found  her  heart  still  in  her  throat. 

Heart  of  stone  in  breast  of  Indian, 

Struck  by  the  anguish  that  she  felt, 

Would  then  have  broken  by  the  stroke. 
But  Dapple  fed, — her  fresh  song  broke 
Forth  upon  the  air,  and  awoke 

The  hills,  whose  liquid  strains  would  melt 

In  soft,  returning  notes,  and  fall 
An  echoing  cadence  from  afar 
On  the  charmed  ear.      Never  at  war 
Was  heart  so  sad;  never  did  mar 

With  song  so  sad,  the  soul's  sweet  call. 

Clear  did  the  woodland  echoes  bring 
The  charming  sound  of  song  she  sung, 
In  sonnant,  soft  Cigiha  tongue, — 
And  loud  the  melting  words  were  rung, 

Unknown  by  all  who  heard  her  sing. 


56  The  Song  of  Kansas. 


Wananda  the  great  gave  me  a  bird, — 
A  bird  from  the  forest  at  even, — 

Sweetly  he  slept  my  bosom  adorning. 
And  awoke  with  a  song  in  the  morning. 
Two  years  did  I  keep  him,  but  the  third, 
He  flew  to  Wananda,  the  keeper  of  heaven. 

And  I  pray  to  Wananda  the  great, 
To  send  back  the  bird  that  was  given. 
For  now  sad  in  my  soul  there  is  ringing. 
The  sweet  broken  song  that  he  was  singing; 
Ere  he  flew  far  away  to  the  gate, 

That  opes  to  Wananda,  the  keeper  of  heaven. 

Now  Life's  Great  Trail  I  follow  all  day; 
And  sadly  I  slumber  at  even; 
For  I  lie  all  alone  and  forsaken, 
Since  my  bird  from  my  bosom  was  taken; 
Sadly  I  sing  and  fervently  pray, 

Return  him,  Wananda,  the  keeper  of  heaven. 


A  meeting  there  that  night  was  held, 
And  called  for  purposes  of  state, — 
And  to  consider  crimes  of  late, — 
And  settle  and  decide  the  fate 

Of  sundry  new  settlers,  and  weld 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  57 

The  ties  of  a  confederate 

Brotherhood;   defensive  in  form 
Of  word  and  call;  but  in  the  storm 
Of  backwoods  eloquence,  and  warm 

Declaim,  it  took  the  form  of  hate, 

Toward  every  person,  high  or  low, 
Who  was  allied  to  Freedom's  cause. 
Then  one  began:    "Who  burnt  our  laws?  "  4  9 
And  while  they  listened  at  the  pause, 

An  ancient  owl  cried:    "Who!  who!  h  —  oo  !  " 

This  was  enough:  —  for  there  outside 
As  sure  as  ears  can  hear,  and  tongue 
Can  mock,  must  be  the  foe.      Then  young 
And  old,  for  valor  yet  unsung, 

Rushed  out  to  hunt  him  far  and  wide. 

No  enemy  they  found,  for  he 

Had  flown;   but  there  in  spectral  white 

Stood  Osawanda,  in  the  light 

Of  moon  full  orbed,  —  a  fairy  sprite, 

Listening  for  fate  in  secrecy. 

Then  to  the  council  she  was  led, 

A  willing  witness  to  the  truth. 
"Come,"  said  one,  "tell  the  meeting,  Ruth, 

About  this  Rubin;  is  the  youth 
Sound  on  the  goose  ?     Is  he  corn  fed  ?  "  5  ° 


58  Tue  Song  of  Kansas 

The  tumults  of  her  soul  had  passed, — 
The  fears  of  an  impending  fate, 
Which  brooded  in  her  soul  of  late, 
Gave  way  to  full-fledged  scorn  and  hate, — 

Then  came  the  thunderbolt  at  last. 

An  old  toad-haunted  cabin  was 

The  place  in  which  the  council  met; — 
And  there  with  flickering  rays  beset, 
A  fancy  work  of  art,  did  fret 

Its  rustic  walls — The  Bogus  Laws, 

Whereon  a  tallow  dip  did  stand 

On  end,  there  struggling  to  enlighten 
This  pit  of  darkness,  and  to  brighten 
This  book,  which  long  had  stood  to  frighten, 

Until  its  conflagration  grand. 

And  this  lone  candle  burning  dim 

Scarce  threw  a  shadow  on  the  floor, — 
But  came  the  Moon  with  beam  she  bore, 
As  if  this  darkness  to  explore. 

Was  prompted  by  some  heavenly  whim. 

The  latch  string  to  the  clapboard  door 
Was  pulled  inside.      On  blocks  of  wood 
Sedately  sat  the  court; — their  good 
Old  coon-skin  caps,  but  tailless,  stood 

Beside  them  on  the  puncheon  floor. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  59 

And  in  the  corner,  pale  as  ghost, 
Such  as  our  aged  grandams  might 
Have  seen  against  the  rayless  night, 
Stood  our  Snowfiake,  with  eyes  so  bright, 

The  moonbeam  in  their  light  was  lost: — 

Who  thus  began:    "On  errand  sent, 
With  questions  heavy,  and  of  great 
Pith  to  this  young  and  coming  State, 
And  such  that  I  could  scarce  relate, 

To  find  young  Rubin  forth  I  went. 

'•'This  very  day  I  met  him,  and 

The  message  gave, — with  courtesy 
Received,  I  thought  I  could  descry 
A  trembling  twinkle  in  his  eye, 
As  there  my  soul  he  did  command. 

"We  then  discoursed  of  naught  which  this 
League  cares  to  know: — enough  to  say, 
It  was  of  birds  and  garlands  gay, 
Until  the  shadows  of  the  day 
Slow-length' nirig  vanished  with  my  bliss. 

"But  this  I  caught  and  will  relate, — 
Proudly  erect  he  stood  and  tall, 
And  said:  'I  build  a  home  though  small, 
For  wife  to  find,  —  nor  ill  befall 
My  love,  nor  freedom  of  the  State.'  " 


60  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Then  a  hoarse  murmur  of  dissent, — 
A  growl,  as  of  some  wild  despair, 
Like  a  chafed  tiger  in  his  lair, 
Came  forth  upon  the  silent  air, 

From  men  upon  destruction  bent. 

"Ho!  this  young  rascal,  now,"  said  one, 
"Will  set  at  naught  our  government! 
For  what  business  be  we  here  sent? 
We  will  take  care  of  this  young  gent ! 
Come,  boy !   hand  up  to  me  my  gun  !  " 

Then  she  replied:    ''Questions  of  state 
Are  not  for  me.      Little  I  know 
Of  book,  or  law,  or  league,  and  so 
I  never  give  them  thought;  and  slow 

I  bring  my  mind  to  catch  debate, — 

"But  one  thing  above  all  I  know, — 

That  woman's  work  goes  with  her  love, — 
And  where  her  heart  leads,  like  the  dove 
From  Noah's  ark  sent  forth  to  prove 
The  land,  there  her  swift  wing  will  go. 

"Guard  your  Rubins,  and  the  houses  that 
They  build,  where  loves  may  safely  nest; 
Then  the  young  State  will  proudly  rest 
Upon  the  Nation's  love  and  breast, 
Like  the  famed  ark  on  Ararat." 


The  Song  of  Kamas.  61 

Quickly  now  was  this  night's  work  done 
In  that  debate,  and  with  that  sure, 
Savage  purpose,  which  doth  allure 
The  mad  mob,  and  a  vote  secure, 

As  if  it  were  the  voice  of  one. 

The  night  was  set,  —  the  silent  hour 

Was  named  for  work, — naught  should  conflict, 
Save  now  sonic  heavenly  interdict, 
As  sure  as  should  that  hour  be  ticked, 

Upon  the  clock  of  Time's  great  tower. 

They  all  retire,  and  Ruth  withdrew 
Unto  her  sad  and  restless  bed, — 
And  there  she  mused,  spinning  her  thread 
Of  fancies  one  by  one,  till  dead 

Hubin's  face  broke  the  thread  in  two; 

Then  dropped  her  hand  upon  the  head 
Of  her  huge  hound,  which  long  had  been 
Her  friend;  going  and  coming  in 
Captive  life,  like  some  faithful  kin, 

And  always  slept  beside  her  bed. 

He,  conscious  of  some  trouble  there, 

Within  his  young  queen's  throbbing  breast, 
Moaning,  licked  her  hand,  and  in  quest 
Of  truth  arose,  disturbed  of  rest, 

And  put  his  paw  upon  her  hair. 


62  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

She  kissed  his  hand,  and  then  arose, 
And  looked  upon  the  moon-lit  world 
Without.      Silent  as  the  infurled 
Whisper  of  a  secret  wish  curled 

Close  to  her  heart,  she  reached  her  clothes. 

In  that  soft,  still  hour  of  midnight, 
Silent  she  dressed;  and  with  such  fear 
Of  bold  intent,  and  to  her  heart  so  near, 
She  dared  not  let  the  angels  hear 

Her  thought,  lest  them  it  might  affright. 

Now  past  the  open  door,  —  no  thought 
Or  look  behind,  but  soft  she  sped, 
With  footfalls  of  a  fairy's  tread, 
For  Dapple  to  the  open  shed, — 

Dapple  who  knew  her  will  untaught. 

Easy  and  slow,  and  sure  she  rode, 
Till  past  the  house  and  hovel  by 
The  brook,  then  loosed  the  rein,  —  a  sigh 
Of  wished  relief,  —  a  half-pent  cry, 

Which  until  now  had  been  a  load 

Upon  her  heart,  she  uttered  low. 
And  now  she  flies,  a  passing  sprite, 
Like  some  weird  wonder  of  the  night, 
Along  the  plain,  in  the  pale  light 

Of  the  mellow  moonbeam's  glow. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  6 

Halting  a  little  at  the  ford, 

To  let  her  " Kansas' "  feel  his  way; 
The  rippling  waters  seemed  to  say: 
'kGood  girl!  good  girl!"   in  gurgling  play, 
"Go  on  !  go  on  !  you  serve  the  Lord." 

The  cabin  reached;  she  knocked,  and  spoke 

In  softest  tone:    "Is  Rubin  here?" 
"Yes,"  he  replied;    "who  do  I  hear?" 
And  then  awoke;  but  it  was  clear 

To  him  a  dream  his  slumbers  broke. 

A  moment's  hush,  —  she  then  replied: 
"Dress  !   be  quick  !   and  beneath  the  oak 
We '11  briefly  talk."     The  spell  was  broke, 
As  there  with  trembling  voice  she  spoke, — 

And  Terror  saw  the  dream  denied. 

5  T  was  but  a  moment  ere  the  tree 

He  reached,  and  she  at  once  began: 
"Your  life  is  sought,  and  so  I  ran 

To  tell  and  aid  you  all  I  can. 
Death  can't  outrun  my  love  for  thee." 

He  seized  her  hand,  —  spell-bound  and  dumb 
He  stood,  —  and  as  he  looked  to  eyes 
That  shone  like  moving  orbs,  which  rise 
And  set  at  sea,  and  whose  light  dies 

At  morn,  presaging  day  to  come, 


64  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

He  could  do  nought  but  stand  and  look; 
And  yet  more  firmly,  kindly  press 
Her  hand.      At  length,  a  lip  caress 
Thereof  was  taken  sans  duress; 

Nor  did  she  chide  for  what  he  took. 

This  broke  the  spell,  and  then  she  told, 
At  his  request,  at  length  and  all 
Of  that  which  at  the  council's  call 
Was  done,  or  should  or  might  befall. 

Then  said:    "This  thought  I  uttered  bold: 

"  'But  one  thing  above  all  I  know: 

That  woman' s  work  goes  with  her  love, 
And  where  her  heart  leads,  like  the  dovo 
From  Noah's  ark  sent  forth  to  prove 
The  land,  there  her  swift  wing  will  go.'  ' 

Then  his  pure  passion  broke  control, — 
And  thus  in  flood  of  ecstasy, 
As  there  he  saw  within  her  eye 
And  daring  face  his  destiny, 

Poured  forth  the  torrent  of  his  soul: 

"Would  that  my  heart  were  that  loved  land, 
And  thou  the  dove  in  search  of  rest; 
Then  would  I  be  forever  blest, 
When  she  should  find  it,  there  to  nest, 
And  share  the  bounties  of  my  hand." 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  65 

Then  she  replied:    "But  foes  have  said 
That  you  shall  have  no  land  to  till; 
Nor  nest  for  bird,  nor  barn  to  fill; 
Nor  bounties  to  bestow  at  will. 

Though  small,  with  which  the  bird  is  fed. ' ' 

Then  he:    "But  foes  may  go  and  come; 

The  brave  alone  Heaven's  bounties  share; 

The  coward  never  won  the  fair; 

Sweethearts  are  won  by  do  and  dare; 
With  this  my  life,  my  love,  my  home. 

k  Without  courage,  how  would  it  be 
Here  on  thy  sacred  mission  pure 
To  save  my  life?     Could  you  endure 
The  savage  cry  of  Slander,  sure 

With  pack  to  bay  thy  purity? 


'Courage  is  queenly  grace  to  woman  given, — 
The  godlike  flame  in  which  all  slander  dies, — 

The  path  whose  gentle  slope  leads  up  to  heaven,  — 
The  gemmed  Orient  of  her  hopeful  skies. 

'  For  neither  will  the  world,  nor  her  warm  heart' s 
Desire,  trust  to  the  fragile  arm  of  Fear; — 

And  as  the  hunted  doe  at  bay  now  starts 
To  find  retreat,  knowing  that  death  is  near, 

-5 


66  The  Song  of  Kcmsas. 

"Will  fall  an  easy  prey  to  all  the  pack; 

So  sure  should  Innocence,  sweet  as  the  flower 
Opening  its  soft  petals  to  the  sun,  lack 

Strength,  she'll  fall  by  Slander's  rude  touch 
and  power: 

"But  the  stout  heart,  however  frail  the  form 

Within  whose  white-robed  vestal  zone  it  be, 
Will,  like  Egypt's  pyramids,  outlast  the  storm, 
And  save  the  sacred  name  of  Purity." 

Then  she:  "Your  soul  is  brave  and  free. 
I'll  be  your  bird,  for  you  have  caught 
Me  on  the  wing;  and  you  have  taught 
Me  love: — Now  fight  for  life  !  I '  ve  bought 

Its  fee,  —  then  trust  in  Heaven  and  me. 

"To-morrow  night  they  come,  —  be  on 
Your  guard,  —  reason  and  overcome 
Their  rage  with  fair  persuasion;  some 
Are  taught  by  truth,  while  some  are  dumb. 
Sweetheart,  good  night."     And  she  was  gone. 

Thus,  in  the  solemn  stillness  hushed 
By  dreamy  after-thought  of  Night, 
Two  Kansan  hearts,  intent  ou  right, 
Guided  by  Love's  pure  flame  and  light, 

Into  each  other's  life  have  rushed. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  67 

The  morrow  dawned  upon  the  mob. 
Little  did  Osawanda  dream 
That  she  could  counterfoil  their  scheme, 
With  aught  that  she  might  say  or  seem 

To  them,  —  for  hell  was  in  the  job. 

But  every  move  she  did  discern; 

And  every  word  and  thought  expressed, 
She  noted;  and  her  rage  repressed; 
And  betimes  her  huge  hound  caressed, 

And  played  a  careless  unconcern. 

But  as  the  evening  shades  appeared, 
Four  men,  each  a  desperate  fiend 
In  human  flesh,  came  up  and  leaned 
Upon  the  fence,  and  so  demeaned 

Themselves,  nor  hell  nor  death  they  feared. 

Aloud  they  called  for  "Old  Kaintuck;"- 
And  now  they  drink,  and  yell,  and  stare 
And  roar,  and  swear  as  devils  swear; 
And  call  it  pure  and  red  and  rare; 

And  as  they  drink  they  say:    "Here  's  luck." 

Then  boasted  o'er  that  drunken  bowl, 

That  one  "white-livered"  Free-State  man 
Should  die  that  night;  and  then  began 
To  load  their  guns.     Now  guess,  who  can, 

The  terror  that  convulsed  a  soul ! 


68  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Ruth  quickly  turned,  and  put  her  hand 
Upon  her  heart;  then  fell  beside 
Her  faithful  hound;  and  he  espied 
Her  dreadful  agony,  and  tried 

To  talk;  but  she  could  understand, 

And  fainted  not,  —  but  quickly  as 
An  inspiration  from  above. 
Sent  down  by  some  angelic  love, 
She  had  resolved.      No  soft  kid  glove 

For  pets;  but  lead  the  virtue  has. 

Now  for  a  ride  to  outrun  Death, 

Whose  stealthy  footsteps  quickly  fall 
Upon  her  ear.     Hope,  life,  love,  all 
May  go;  for  nothing  can  recall 

His  stroke,  nor  melt  his  frozen  breath. 

Time!  O  for  the  full  power  to  stop 

His  clock,  and  cheat  grim-visaged  Fate, 
Who  stands  like  chiseled  law  to  wait, 
Cold,  sullen  and  disconsolate, 

To  keep  the  time,  and  slip  the  drop. 

Dapple  she  rides,  whose  mettle  oft 
In  other  days  and  scenes  was  tried, — 
Joy  of  her  heart,  her  pet,  her  pride, — 
On  darkness  gaze  they  far  and  wide, — 

The  plain  before,  the  stars  aloft. 


TIw  Song  of  Kansas.  69 

One  star  she  knows  of  all  the  host, 
Which  has  to  millions  been  a  star 
To  guide  to  fame,  to  love  and  war, — 
That  polar  light  which  shines  afar, 

To  point  the  way,  or  find  the  lost. 

Out  from  the  woods,  and  northward  start, 
Like  hunted  deer,  —  and  on  they  rush, 
Heedless  of  mound,  or  brake,  or  bush; 
For  Dapple  knows  in  whispering  hush 

Her  fears,  and  feels  her  throbbing  heart. 

And  as  he  glides  she  softly  talks: — • 
"Now  gently,  Dapple,  —  gently  —  slow — 
Not  too  fast  at  start  —  far  to  go, 
And  fearful  is  the  way, — you  know 
We  must  not  fail— fail!    That  word  locks 

"My  lips!     To  fail!     O  Heaven  !  let  not 

The  faintest  whisper  of  that  word 

Among  the  starry  host  be  heard ! 

But  let  my  speed  be  like  the  bird, 

Whose  flight  fulfills  her  swiftest  thought ! 

"Kansas,  my  pride!  you  never  saw 

Me  fail !   and  you  shall  have  the  rein. 
You  saved  me  once  upon  the  plain 
From  wolves;  and  once  from  being  slain 
By  bison  on  the  Ninnescah. 


70  The  Song  of  Kama*. 

1  'But  then  my  life  is  all  there  was 

At  stake.      Now  my  life  rushes  toward 
A  life  that  resteth  on  the  sword,  — 
The  faithful  servant  of  its  lord; — 
Then  take  the  rein,  and  speed  his  cause  ! ' ' 

Far  past  the  Elk,  and  to  the  brow 
Of  Little  Sugar's  circling  hills, 
Down  whose  rough  sides  dire  Terror  fills 
The  passing  soul,  —  yet  dauntless  wills, 

And  on  they  plunge,  till  safely  now 

Upon  the  bosom  of  the  broad 

Valley  spread  out  in  green  below. 
Then  to  the  northward  on  they  go, 
Till  Little  Sugar,  rippling  slow, 

Arrests  their  speed.      This  crossed,  unawed 

Into  the  forest,  west  by  a  single  path 
They  go,  and  eager  winding,  thread 
Their  way,  until  their  rapid  tread 
Is  heard  by  one  whom  ruffians  dread, 

Against  the  vengeance  of  his  wrath. 

'Tis  Colonel  James  Montgomery's  fort. 
' '  Halt !  who  comes  there  ?  "  is  uttered  loud 
Within.      "A  friend,"  —  responded  proud 
Our  Ruth,  with  ready  wit  endowed  — 

'  'And  I '  m  in  search  of  brave  support. ' ' 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  71 

'A  brave  support !  "  then  answered  he; 
"I'll  do  my  part  if  just  the  cause; 

But  I  obey  no  "Bogus"  laws, — 

I  have  cast  them  into  the  jaws 
Of  hell.      What  can  your  errand  be?" 

;To  quickly  save  a  noble  soul 
From  the  ruffian  jaws  of  hell," 
Responded  she.      "But  now,  please  tell 
How  am  I  to  know  but  some  fell 

Plot  of  knave  is  laid  to  enroll 

;My  name  with  the  unnumbered  dead, 
And  you  the  sweet-faced  angel  fraud?" 
A  moment  dumb,  then — "(9  my  God/" 
Broke  from  a  heavenly  soul  outlawed 

Of  earth,  and  heart  subdued  with  dread. 

It  was  a  wail  of  such  wild  woe, 

In  plaint  of  doleful  anguish  caught, 
That  the  stern  warrior  doubted  not 
That  she  was  all  she  told  and  thought, 

And  said:    "Ah,  well!  my  maid,  I  go." 

But  now  she  said:    "Last  fall  I  shot 
A  buck  with  you  on  yonder  hill; 
And  in  the  trial  of  our  skill 
With  gun,  both  shot,  but  you  did  kill, 

And  won  the  deer,  but  took  him  not." 


72  The  Sang  of  Kansas. 

"Yon  are  the  Osawanda,  then; 

The  fair,  black-haired,  and  blue-eyed  maid, — 
The  captive  child!"  the  chieftain  said. 
"I  am,"  said  Ruth.      "You  have  my  aid," 
Said  he,  "against  a  thousand  men." 

Soon  on  their  way  were  rushing  fast, 
Down  where  the  Little  Sugar  flows, 
With  wild  bird's  song  and  scent  of  rose, — 
On  through  woods  where  the  maple  grows, — 

And  on  till  frowning  hill  is  past. 

There  checked  their  speed  for  moment's  breath. 
Then  asked  of  Ruth:    "What  now  to  thee 
Is  this  young  man?  some  kin  to  be 
Perhaps."   '  "Worlds!    worlds!"  said  she, 
"to  me, — 

And  for  his  life  I  race  with  Death. ' ' 

Then  she  cried:    "On  !   my  Kansas,  on!" 
Then  he:  ' '  And  save  !  my  Beecher,  save  !  "  5 1 
Who  knows  by  what  kind  power  the  brave 
May  live,  or  foul  may  find  his  grave? 

Both  come  to  earth,  and  then  are  gone. 

Now  we  leave,  dashing  white  with  foam 
Their  steeds,  —  and  turn  unto  the  four 
Fiends  we  left  two  hours  before. 
These  drunken,  and  athirst  for  gore, 

Have  found  their  way  to  Rubin's  home. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  73 

And  in  those  two  dread  mortal  hours, 
The  insult  and  the  pain  he  bore 
Within  the  threshold  of  his  door 
Cannot  be  told.      Why  fate  deplore? 

Or  ask  the  why  of  hidden  powers? 

Enough  for  mortal  man  to  know: 

Him  stripped  and  tied,  his  flesh  they  gashed 
With  knives  and  sharpened  sticks;  they  lashed 
His  back  with  whips;  and  swore  and  gnashed 

Their  teeth,  and  mocked  him  in  his  woe. 

To  the  kind  voice  of  Reason  dumb, 
The  prowling  beast  some  mercy  has; 
But  to  these  fiends  pale  Pity  was 
A  painted  plaything  for  a  devil's  jaws, — 

They  drowned  and  drank  it  in  their  rum. 

But  Rubin  said:    "Give  me  a  chance, — 
Four  to  one  is  not  fair,  when  tied. 
Untie;  I  ask  not  aught  beside." 
This  was  refused,  and  then  they  cried: 

'Come,  boy!   give  us  a  song  and  dance." 

Then  .at  last  one  put  his  hard  hand 

On  Rubin's  heart,  and  cried:    "Gods,  men, 
How  it  thumps  against  his  ribs  ! ' '     Then 
He  put  his  ear  close,  and  again 

He  cried:  "Gush!   gush!   it  lacks  the  sand." 


74  TJie  Song  of  Kansas. 

And  then  he  drew  his  knife  and  said: 
"Now,  boys,  this  knife  I  whet  to-day 

For  blood.     Its  point  is  sharp  to  slay; 

It's  time  for  it  to  drink,  —  give  way  !  " 
And  high  it  gleamed  above  his  head. 

But  the  base  hand,  quiv'ring  on  high, 
Staid,  —  and  to  the  floor  the  knife's  fall 
Went,  harmless;  for  a  navy  ball 
Had  pierced  his  heart.      'T  was  the  close  call. 

Unerring,  of  Montgomery. 

Then  and  there  three  ruffians  died. 
The  fourth  was  saved,  but  notice  took 
Of  what  Montgomery  said:    "Now  look, 
You  fiend,  and  note  it  in  your  book: 

Henceforth,  your  horde  must  hunt  and  hide. ' ' 

These  were  Montgomery's  terms,  and  long 
The  subtle  foe  obeyed.     The  maid, 
With  Rubin  saved,  stood  undismayed, 
Angelic  in  that  midnight  shade, 

And  there  entwined,  with  passion  strong, 

Her  hero  in  the  arms  of  love. 

The  claim  they  held,  and  long  thereat 
They  lived,  and  mighty  men  begat 
Who  stand  for  blissful  home;  for  that 

Holds  Freedom's  ark;  and  ark  the  dove. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  75 

Montgomery,  thy  manly  shade 

Now  rests  in  peace.     The  sacred  grove 
Now  decorates  thy  grave  in  love; 
And  weeping  waters  gurgling  move 

Close  to  thy  feet  where  thou  art  laid. 

Thy  watchful  eye  and  dar-ing  hand 
Guarded  the  way  for  Liberty, — 
Here  at  the  gates  of  Linn  we  see 
Thy  stalwart  blade  and  standard  high, 

'As  thou  a  sentinel  didst  stand  ! 

Sweet  be  thy  rest !   and  while  the  years 
Roll  round,  thy  name  in  memory  green 
Shall  live,  and  here  each  year  be  seen. 
Thy  comrades  come,  and  o'er  thee  lean, 

And  drop  the  tribute  of  their  tears. 

JOHN     BROWN. 

Sad  Linn  !     Dark  plots  and  direful  things 
In  secret  hatched,  and  compacts  made 
In  the  vile  den  or  sickly  shade, 
And  writ  with  point  of  Slavery's  blade, 

In  bloody  book  which  Treason  brings. 

In  this  black  book  appears  the  name 

And  sentence  of  each  Freedom's  son, — 
Boldly  in  blood  the  letters  run, 
In  the  fierce  hand  of  Hamilton. 

Now  stands  to  his  infernal  fame 


76  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

The  record  of  that  bloody  book: 

Eleven  blasts  from  hell  are  blown, — 
Eleven  teeth  of  dragon  sown, — 
Eleven  sons  like  grass  cut  down; 

And  Hydra  of  his  feast  partook. 

Then  came  John  Brown  close  on  his  path, 
And  boldly  passing  to  his  den, 
Him  struck  an  awful  blow,  and  when 
The  shackles  broke  and  fell  from  men 

He  writhed  and  roared  in  demon's  wrath. 

Eleven  slaves  are  now  set  free, — 

A  kindly  stroke  for  those  who  fell, — 
A  just  and  righteous  parallel, —  52 
Their  freedom  won,  and  strange  to  tell 

Kansas  has  gained  her  liberty. 

Not  on  far  Afric's  burning  sand, 

When  age  on  age  has  come  and  gone, 
And  people  searching  in  the  throng 
Which  passing  centuries  prolong, 

Ask  for  some  hero  proud  and  grand, 

The  theme  for  master  sculptor's  hand, 
Whose  ancient  glory  and  renown 
The  waiting  multitude  shall  crown, 
Will  there  remote  appear  John  Brown;- 

But  will  be  found  in  every  land 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  77 

His  glory  heralded  by  seers, — 
In  marble  cut;  by  poet  sung; 
And  his  rude  image  shall  be  hung 
Kound  the  charmed  neck,  and  every  tongue 

Shall  praise  him  as  the  saint  of  years. 

And  here,  in  Kansas,  we  shall  raise 

The  statue  to  undying  fame. 

With  sculptured  art,  we  shall  proclaim 

The  fond  memorial  of  his  name, 
Which  thus  shall  stand  and  speak  his  praise. 

The  man  —  the  sword,  —  the  Hydra  slain, — 
The  hand  outstretched  to  greet 
The  needy  one,  —  the  face  replete 
With  love,  —  and,  underneath  his  feet, 

The  broken  links  of  Slavery's  chain. 

Bright  star  of  Kansas !  now  thy  place 
Is  fixed: — a  brilliant  central  gem, 
In  Columbia's  diadem; 
Which,  like  the  star  of  Bethlehem, 

Points  out  a  savior  of  the  race. 

O  Slavery!  dire,  enraged; — if  you 

Are  doomed,  what  serves  to  now  rebel? 
What  serves  the  powers  that  wait  on  hell? 
You  sent  the  shaft  when  Sumpter  fell, 

Which  on  recoil  shall  pierce  you  through. 


78  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

THE    CIVIL    WAR. 

Behold  two  little  clouds  which  'rose, 
And  in  the  sky  o'er  Kansas  stand; 
They  seem  no  larger  than  the  hand, 
But  soon  they  grow,  and  o'er  the  land 

Spread  out  a  shroud  in  dark  repose. 

These  clouds  are  fierce  and  filled  with  wrath,— 
One  at  the  southward,  clad  in  gray, 
Is  shimmering  in  the  lightning's  play; 
And  lowly  muttering  makes  his  way 

Northward,  and  coiling  in  his  path: — 

The  one  at  northward  clad  in  blue, 

Like  some  dark  monarch  on  his  throne, 

And  grumbling  in  his  baritone, 

Through  rifts  of  clouds  which  he  has  blown 

About  his  head,  takes  notice  due. 

Now  these  huge  monarchs  of  the  air 
Approach,  and  rise  in  awful  form; 
And  as  their  fury  seems  to  warm, 
They  clutch, — then  bursts  the  awful  storm. 

Great  giants  from  ethereal  lair, 

In  fierce  embrace,  now  twist  and  coil 
In  brawny  arms  which  never  tire:  — 
Now  crash  the  thunders  in  their  ire, — 
They  fling  their  livid  wrath  in  fire, 

And  make  the  whirling  cyclone  boil. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  79 

Then  blow  their  all-subduing  breath 

To  earth,  and  round  and  round  they  leap  — 
And,  eastward  bound,  black  ruin  heap 
On  wild  despair,  - — and  waltzing,  sweep 

In  weird  and  wicked  dance  of  death. 

Thus  say:  The  solid  South  conspired 
To  rule  the  North.      Sad  was  the  day 
They  clutched,  —  and  wicked  was  the  way 
To  peace;  but  when  it  caine,  the  gray 

Had  in  the  Northern  grasp  expired. 

And  say:  That  Kansas,  in  the  war 
To  save  Columbia's  home,  in  time 
And  men  stands  first, — 53  that  she  did  climb 
Vast  heights  to  fame,  nor  any  crime 

Nor  halt  her  battle-flag  doth  mar. 


80  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

IV. 

KANSAS    IN    THE    REIGN    OF    PEACE. 
PEACE. 

OUR  Iliad  of  woes  is  past. 

And  gentle  Peace,  with  healing  wing, 
Now  comes  with  all  her  arts  to  bring 
Repose;  and  softer  notes  I  sing, 

While  Hope  looks  up  from  Ruin's  blast. 

And  from  this  wreck  of  civil  strife 
And  war,  where  Treason  dying  lies, 
Behold  two  manly  forms  arise ! 
No  cold,  disdainful  look  replies 

To  that  sad  wail  of  human  life; 

But  with  kind  hand  that  stoops  to  save; 
And  face  lit  with  benignant  smile, 
That  doth  grim-visaged  War  beguile; 
The  flag  that  Treason  would  defile, 

They  spread  o'  er  its  eternal  grave. 

With  modest  look  and  humble  pride, 

Thus  Grant  and  Lincoln  stand; — and  there 
Between,  two  other  forms  more  fair: — 
Columbia  with  her  flag  in  air; 

The  private  soldier  close  beside, 


The  Sang  of  Kansas.  81 

In  rich,  immortal  blue.      At  rest 

lie  half  reclines,  —  and  you  can  trace 
A  sad  smile  lingering  on  his  face; 
While  the  fond  goddess  wreaths  in  grace 

His  head,  there  pillowed  on  her  breast. 

THE    STATE. 

Great  kings  may  die  and  empires  fall, — 
Races  of  men  come  on  the  stage, 
And  pass  away  in  sickly  age, — 
Ancient  and  dim  is  History's  page 

And  hard  to  read;  the  print's  too  small; 

But  what  is  great,  and  what  endures, 

Is  built  by  all.      Those  truths  and  deeds, 
Though  small,  collected  like  the  seeds 
Of  earth,  and  saved  for  future  needs, 

Are  then  not  mine  alone,  nor  yours, 

But  do  belong  to  all.     The  State 
On  these  is  built  in  grandeur  bold, 
And  stands  in  time  by  cycles  told, 
While  workmen's  names  lie  in  the  mold 

Of  age  forgot,  or  small  or  great: — 

As  polyp  rude,  beneath  the  waves 
Builds  her  coral  home,  and  lays 
The  deep  foundations  where  we  raise 
The  fabric  of  the  State;  the  praise 

We  cast  upon  forgotten  graves. 


82  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Thus  you  will  find  where'er  you  roam 
Within  some  quiet  spot  select, 
The  soldier's  grave;  nor  name  detect; 
No  fame  he  sought,  but  to  protect 

His  flag,  his  country,  and  his  home. 

The  flag  sustained  and  country  blessed, 
Was  greater  than  to  reach  a  throne, — 
His  life  was  but  his  country's  own, — 
He  sleeps  upon  her  breast  unknown, — 

In  quiet  glory  let  him  rest ! 

THE    HOME. 

No  spot  so  dear  on  earth  as  home. 

We  build  the  home;  this  builds  the  State. 
This  loyal  makes  the  Nation  great, — 
And  all  from  love.     No  hand  of  Fate 

Builds,  or  pulls  down  a  nation' s  dome. 

No  happy  footsteps  from  the  homo 

E'er  trod  the  path  which  Treason  takes. 
No  hand  from  happy  fireside  shakes 
The  murderer's  blade,  nor  it  forsakes, 

To  Csesar  kill,  or  rule  great  Home. 

Kansas,  in  this  thy  glories  rise, — 

In  this  thy  strength.      Thy  people  here 
Their  plain  and  humble  structures  rear, — 
They  plow  and  plant  at  home,  nor  fear 

That  there  an  execution  lies. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  83 

What  though  their  earthly  lot  is  hard ! 

What  though  their  humble  house  be  sod ! 

They  bend  no  knee  to  tyrant's  nod; 

There  they  may  live  and  worship  God, 
And  love  shall  never  be  debarred. 

Husbands  and  wives,  and  little  ones, 

Are  kings  and  queens  on  Kansas  soil, — 
Their  empire  rests  secure  from  broil, — 
And  here  in  peaceful  life  they  toil, 

And  raise  for  Liberty  her  sons. 

'Tis  here  that  lisping  children  come, 
Now  sad  to  tell  some  little  care; 
Or  pleased  the  parent's  kiss  to  share, 
With  little  hands  and  flowing  hair, 

Braid  links  of  love  around  the  home. 

'  T  is  sweet  to  know  that  here  the  State 
Protects  the  home,  —  that  she  has  thrown 
Around  the  hearth  and  wife  her  own 
Strong  arm,  —  that  this  no  kingly  crown 

Could  do,  no  more  on  grandeur  wait. 

And  when  the  fee  vests  in  the  wife, 
It  is  a  badge  of  love,  not  fraud; — 
And  when  for  home,  let  courts  applaud ! 
'Tis  hers,  where  every  household  god 

May  rest  secure,  and  bless  her  life. 


84:  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

As  well  destroy  the  tree  which  shades 
Her  door;  the  nest  of  bird  whose  song 
Enchants  the  grove;  as  there  to  wrong 
Her  love,  and  all  her  griefs  prolong, 

Which  once  was  done  by  legal  raids. 

Take  not  her  household  gods  away ! 
Her  lot  is  hard  enough  at  best; 
At  home,  let  each  fond  object  rest 
Beneath  its  wing !     Here  is  the  nest 

Of  love  !     For  this  we  fight  and  pray. 

Nor  shall  the  curse  of  drink,  strong  drink, 
Whose  pain  is  as  the  adder's  sting, 
Sure,  quick  and  deadly,  ever  bring 
To  Kansas  home  its  guilt,  and  fling 

The  household  gods  on  ruin's  brink. 

This  has  made  Kansas  great,  —  to  this 

She  owes  her  growth,  her  power  and  wealth; 
Her  brawny  arm  and  sturdy  health; 
She  gains  by  prowess,  not  by  stealth, 

And  home  brings  all  her  victories. 

In  legislative  halls  by  hand 

Of  artist  touched,  where  fretted  dome 
And  classic  pillars  charm,  do  come 
The  great  defenders  of  the  home, 

And  round  its  tires  a  bulwark  stand. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  85 

No  wonder  told  in  fairy  tale, 

In  web  and  woof  of  fancy  wrought, 
Can  equal  this,  —  no  vision  caught 
From  fairy-land  enchants  the  thought 

Like  this,  in  which  our  souls  regale ! 

THE    EARLY    PIONEER. 

Brave  men  here  came  to  stand  or  fall 
For  Liberty.      The  silver  ray 
Of  Hope  shone  bright  upon  their  way; — 
With  faith  unshaken,  here  to  stay, 

No  flesh  pots  could  their  steps  recall. 

Heroes  they  came  !   to  combat  here 
The  fates  and  furies  of  vast  Hell. 
Ur.to  a  desert  land  to  dwell 
They  came;  nor  drouth,  nor  flood,  could  quell 

Their  earnest  rage  for  Freedom  dear. 

False  signs  to  scare  did  fill  the  breeze — . 
At  crossings  of  old  Indian  trails, 
The  traveler  reads:  "Every  crop  fails;"  — 
"It  never  rains;"  —  "Sometimes  it  hails;"  — 
'Timothy  won't  grow,  nor  trees." 

At  these  the  sturdy  pioneer 

Leveled  his  axe;  and  with  a  stroke 
Cut  down  the  lies;   and  then  he  broke 
The  sod  with  plow  and  steers,  and  woke 

The  earth  to  grow  his  harvests  here. 


86  The  Sang  of  Kansas. 

But  ere  the  harvest  came,  what  toil 
Here  taxed  his  early  hours  and  late! 
What  cares  and  fears  on  him  did  wait ! 
Ere  he  the  fickle  hand  of  Fate 

Could  guide,  and  fix  it  in  the  soil. 

THE    PRAIKIE    FIRE. 

'Tis  said  Prometheus  filched  the  fire 
From  heaven  to  minister  unto  man; 
But  in  its  use  the  godly  plan 
Became  a  scourge,  and  fire  outran 

The  tierce  revenge  of  heavenly  ire. 

Thus,  when  the  white  autumnal  frost 

Had  touched  the  world  to  tints  of  brown; 
And  blue-joint  grass,  in  tasseled  down, 
Waved  its  long  plumes;  and  for  a  crown 

The  Year,  these  silken  tresses  tossed, 

I've  seen  upon  the  Kansas  plain 
In  early  years  the  fiends  of  fire 
Let  loose,  —  who  in  their  hot  desire 
To  curse  the  world  did  melt  in  ire, 

And  break  the  elemental  chain. 

Out  from  the  portals  of  the  south 

They  came.      No  blast  from  Borean  caves, 
Beneath  the  cool,  refreshing  waves 
Of  northern  sea,  —  but  fiercely  raves 

The  dread  South  Wind,  with  whom  goes  Drouth; 


The  &>n<j  of  Kansas.  87 

Weird  sisters  of  the  sandy  plain, 

Who  scourge  the  land  with  fiery  thong, 
And,  moaning  as  they  pass  along, 
They  chant  their  sad  sirocco  song, 

And  chase  away  the  gentle  rain. 

The  blue  October  haze  that  slept 
Upon  the  grassy  fields  had  passed 
Away,  —  and  then  a  somber  cast 
Came  on,  with  swift-winged  storm,  and  fast 

These  frowning  furies  onward  swept. 

Then  on  the  land  they  blew  their  breath, 
And  fanned  it  with  their  fiery  wings; — 
No  weeping  rain,  no  siren  sings, 
But  from  the  surging  flame  there  springs 

The  black  and  horrid  form  of  Death. 

Far  as  the  eye  can  reach  the  world 
Ablaze,  —  a  vast  and  billowy  sea 
Of  fire,  —  and  there  aloft  in  glee 
These  furies  danced  in  revelry, — 

Their  heads  in  fiery  tresses  curled  — 

And  smoke  black  as  the  Stygean  blast, 
And  tongues  of  fire  shot  forth,  and  bore 
Aloft  the  food  of  flame  it  tore 
From  earth,  —  and  on  with  thundering  roar 

And  hiss  and  crackling  noise  they  passed, — 


88  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Their  way  black  as  the  path  of  hell. 
The  wolf  sought  refuge  in  his  den, 
And  safe  the  wing  of  prairie-hen; 
But  the  poor  deer  to  reach  the  fen, 

With  fleetest  footsteps,  fainting  fell. 

Thus  was  the  land  left  black  and  drear, — 
Thus  was  the  food  cut  off  from  herd, — 
And  home  burnt  up  of  man  and  bird, — 
And  husky  voice  of  dearth  was  heard, 

For  fire  had  harvested  the  year. 

The  faint-heart  croaked:   a  thought  did  swerve: 
His  wife  had  people  in  the  East, — 
Egypt  had  flesh  pots  for  a  feast, — 
He  went.      Thus  was  the  land  released 

Of  him,  and  saved  by  men  of  nerve. 

THE     HEROES. 

Of  heroes  Kansas  is  the  child ! 

When  Freedom's  banner  was  unfurl" d, 
Then  on  her  doubtful  soil  were  hurl'd 
Gods  of  the  intellectual  world, 

Who  stood  by  her  till  Fortune  smiled. 

Brim  full  of  health,  to  hardy  fare 
Inured,  with  purpose  pure  and  high, 
They  did  their  work  without  a  sigh, 
As  if  made,  and  then  sustained,  by 

The  unseen  energies  of  air. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  89 

No  more  the  hot  sirocco  blows  — 
The  farmer  stopped  it  with  his  plow; 
No  drouth  disturbs  the  drowsy  cow  — 
The  planted  grove  shades  her,  and  now 

The  desert  blossoms  like  the  rose. 

COMMERCE. 

Each  day  her  glory  like  the  sun 

In  splendor  comes;  the  ready  hand 
In  field  and  forge  now  waves  the  wand 
With  magic  power;  and  through  the  land 

The  thundering  wheels  of  commerce  run. 

Mighty  black  monarchs  of  the  plain, — 
Great  giants  with  Briarean  arms; 
Whose  throats  belch  forth  volcanic  charms, — 
Steel-shod  they  tread  with  wise  alarms, 

And  pull  the  lengthened,  cumbrous  train. 

These  mighty  engines  of  the  brain 

Have  brought  fair  Fortune  here  to  stay, — 
Have  decked  the  State  in  bright  array, 
With  golden  grain;  and  roundelay 

Has  ushered  in  the  golden  reign. 

THE    FLAG. 

Great  State !   thy  work  shall  never  lag, 
For  here  Columbia's  royal  mace, 
Advancing,  leads  her  stalwart  race; 
While  overhead  thy  star  in  place, 

Shines  brilliant  in  our  country's  flag. 


90  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

No  flag  so  great  on  earth  as  this ! 
Go  where  you  will;   in  every  place 
It  honored  is; — no  hand  so  base, 
As  mar  its  fair  and  starry  face, 

Which  angels  seeing  stoop  to  kiss. 

Let  it  in  splendor  from  on  high 

Glance  on  the  world  its  starry  beams ! 
It  now  in  faith  and  glory  streams, — 
It  has  fulfilled  the  patriot's  dreams, 

And  flaunts  in  heaven's  fair  face  no  lie. 

How  beats  in  love  the  soldier's  heart, 
As  he  beholds  its  folds  unfurled; 
For  it  the  battles  of  a  world 
He  fought,  when  Treason's  lance  was  hurled; 

And  broke  beneath  his  feet  the  dart. 

Proudly  erect  the  bearer  stands, 
As  o'er  his  head  the  colors  wave; 
For  this  his  sword  is  drawn  to  save; 
For  this  he  dares  to  find  his  grave, 

While  it  floats  heavenward  from  his  hands. 

Let  it  go  forth  to  every  land  ! 
Let  it  in  starry  splendor  wave, 
O'  er  every  honored  patriot' s  grave  ! 
Let  it  in  every  ocean  lave ! 

And  be  unfurled  by  every  hand ! 


Tlie  Song  of  Kansas.  91 

HISTORY'S  WISDOM. 

Down  the  long  aisles  of  ancient  time 
We  tread,  and  view  upon  our  way 
The  old  historic  milestones  day 
By  day; — some  here  half -broken  lay, 

Sad  relics  of  a  distant  clime, — 

Some  there  but  half  erect  recline, 

Bending  beneath  the  weight  of  age, — 
Perhaps  the  deeds  of  saint  or  sage 
Record,  —  perhaps  the  warrior's  rage, 

And  on  his  cruelties  refine: — 

Whilst  here  again  some  shaft  is  found 
With  letters  dim,  which  doth  allure 
The  eye, — at  fell  by  that  obscure, 
Sad  touch,  which  makes  oblivion  sure, 

And  lies  half  buried  in  the  ground: 

Or  here  now  comes  upon  our  sight 
A  pillar  lettered  o'er  with  fame 
Of  one,  whose  long-forgotten  name 
Does  like  some  mummied  thought  exclaim: 

Behold  the  meteor's  passing  flight ! 

Name  of  wise  man  or  nation  great, 
On  tablet  writ,  or  on  the  face 
Of  obelisk;  their  fame  we  trace, — 
The  same  sure  stroke  which  doth  erase 

The  one,  so  marks  the  other's  fate. 


2  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Throw  back  the  veil !   let  in  the  light 
Of  enthean  fire  on  peoples  great ! 
On  city,  kingdom,  or  on  state, 
O'erthrown  by  man,  or  God  or  Fate, — 

It  lights  them  to  eternal  night. 

Of  such  wise  lessons  Kansas  conned; 
And  learned  to  shun  the  rock  and  shoal 
Of  that  dark  sea,  where  ceaseless  roll 
The  waves  that  lift  or  whelm  the  soul- 
Filled  ship: — her  hope  is  Virtue's  bond. 

Nor  lift  the  dark,  mysterious  veil 

Which  shrouds  the  realms  of  future  day: 
Haunt  not,  without  some  wise  delay, 
Those  precincts  lit  with  holy  ray, 

That  glints  upon  the  hopeful  sail. 

Count  not,  dear  friend,  the  grand  array 
Of  millions  as  they  proudly  swell 
The  time-worn  rolls,  and  safely  dwell 
On  plain,  or  in  the  flow'ry  dell, 

With  peace,  —  and  happy  in  their  day: — 

Enough  for  us  to  know;  their  homes, 
Blooming  like  flowers  on  Kansas  soil, — 
Warmed  by  the  fires  of  honest  toil, 
And  lit  with  lamp  of  Wisdom's  oil, 

Are  safer  than  the  gilded  dvnies. 


The  Song  of  Kansas.  93 

THE    SUNFLOWER. 

Land  of  warm  hearts,  and  true  and  bold; 

Of  yellow  corn  and  golden  wheat; 

Where  rosy  morn,  in  radiance  sweet, 

Casts  the  Orient  at  her  feet; 
And  happy  colors  run  to  gold. 

Blooming  land  where  the  sunflower  reigns 
In  grace  and  splendor  unconcealed ! 
While  sister  flowers  their  homage  yield, 
And  crown  her  goddess  of  the  field, — 

The  bright  Aurora  of  the  plains. 

Along  the  paths  of  commerce  old, 
She  stands  a  sentinel  and  queen; 
Streaking  the  landscape's  lovely  sheen, 
With  tints  of  yellow  in  the  green; 

And  blooms  in  beauty  and  in  gold. 

THE  PATRIOT'S  LOVE. 

Proud  Kansas !  known  on  land  and  sea; 
Happy  the  man  on  foreign  strand 
Who  hails  from  thee !     In  any  land 
On  earth,  a  Kansan  let  him  stand, 

This  name  shall  be  his  passport  free. 

Kansas !  I  love  thy  sacred  name, 

As  o'er  my  memory  sweeps  the  past; — 
From  thy  dark,  deep  trouble  thou  hast 
Now  come,  to  glorious  peace,  and  vast 

Domain,  and  everlasting  fame. 


94  •  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

I  dearly  love  thy  stately  frame; — 

That  grand  physique  of  prairies  wide, 
Which,  like  some  undulating  tide 
Of  mighty  sea,  billows  in  pride 

Thy  lovely  form,  and  breathes  thy  name. 

I  love  thy  soul,  —  that  spark  divine 

Which  struck  from  the  Almighty  mind 
Illumines  earth,  with  manners  kind, 
And  motives  pure,  and  laws  refined, 

And  Justice  sure,  and  love  benign. 

The  home  of  freemen  thou  shalt  be, 
Where  patriot  footsteps  love  to  stray, 
And  to  thy  soil  their  homage  pay, — 
Where  Virtue  with  her  heavenly  ray 

Doth  shine  in  sweetest  purity. 

And  when  Time  comes  to  end  my  days, — 
Chant  in  my  ear  some  old  refrain 
Of  patriot  song; — the  parting  pain 
Will  cease; — then  say:    "In  humble  strain 

He  sang  for  Kansas  her  sweet  praise." 


Miscellaneous  poems. 


Miscellaneous  Poems. 


THE  PRAYER  UPON  THE  WALL. 

TO  MKS.  ELIZABETH   H.  UOSS,   OF  CHICAGO,  ILL.,  THIS  POEM 
IS  DEDICATED.      JULY  25,  1888. 

I.     UNDER   THE   LIGHTS. 

As  I  SAT  within  my  home, 
Turning  o'er  some  ancient  tome, 
Mousing  at  the  musty -lore, 
There  beside  me  on  the  floor 

Sat  my  wife,  with  a 
Many-colored  zephyr  ball, 

And  she  stitched  away, 
On  a  motto  for  the  wall. 

One  by  one  the  letters  spelt 
A  prayer,  asking  Him  who  dwelt 
In  the  high  cerulean  dome, 
Every  day  to  bless  our  home. 

"God  Bless  our  Home,"  she 
There  with  threads  of  zephyr  ball, 

Like  skilled  Arachne, 
Wrought  this  motto  for  the  wall. 


98  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Humming  to  herself  the  while, 
"Spicy  breath",  and  "Ceylon's  isle" 
Scent  of  flowers  and  song  of  birds 
Blended  with  the  holy  words. 

Thus  her  hand  unsought, 
All  my  senses  did  enthrall, — 

Hand  that  deftly  wrought, 
Holy  words  upon  the  wall. 

Then  I  heard  her  softly  say, 
In  her  quiet,  tuneful  way  : 
"Have  I  inwrought  God's  design, 
With  this  needle  here  of  mine 

Into  every  strand; 
And  will  now  a  blessing  fall 

From  the  heavenly  Hand, 
For  this  motto  on  the  wall?" 


H.     WITHIN   THE   SHADOWS. 

Dimmed  the  eyes  that  brightly  shone ! 
Hushed  the  voice  of  sweetest  tone ! 
Gone  the  hand  that  deftly  wrought, 
Letters  for  a  blessing  sought ! 

On  the  threshold  lie 
My  griefs;  and  I  there  recall 

Her  sweet  prayer,  by 
The  silent  motto  on  the  wall. 


The  Prayer  upon  the  Wall.  99 

Trees  and  flowers  and  grassy  lawn, 
Greet  the  birds  at  break  of  dawn; 
And  within  the  somber  shade, 
Still  the  nest  of  love  is  made; 

But  my  bird  is  flown, 
Far  beyond  her  mate's  recall, 

And  faded  flowers  strown, 
Mock  the  motto  on  the  wall. 

Birds  no  more  for  me  will  sing, 
Flowers  bloom  not  in  the  spring, 
Home  shall  be  no  home  to  me, 
Blessings  shall  I  never  see; 

Sad  I  sing  my  lays, 
For  the  charming  life  of  all 

Haunts  me  as  I  gaze 
On  her  prayer  upon  the  wall. 

Still  I  sit  within  my  home, 
Turning  o'er  the  ancient  tome; 
Searching  for  the  hidden  lore, 
That,  may  stricken  hearts  restore. 

Nor  healing  heavenly  dew, 
Nor  Gilead's  balm  let  fall, 

Can  bless  like  one  who 
Placed  her  prayer  upon  the  wall. 


100  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

III.     THE    BROKEN    HAKP. 

Touch  not  the  harp !  its  chords  are  broken, 

Its  sweetest  tones  are  dead; 
Like  holy  words  of  love  unspoken, 

It  is  a  prayer  unsaid. 

Or  strike  the  chords  of  sinking  sadness ! 

Responsive  to  my  soul; 
For  I  am  tossed  on  waves  of  madness, 

And  wild  the  billows  roll. 

Like  harp  within  my  home  forsaken, 

My  life  is  all  unstrung; 
Or  like  the  voice  no  harp  can  waken, 

It  is  a  song  unsung. 

The  soul  that  now  is  touched  with  sorrow, 

Is  like  a  flower  unblown; 
Its  hopes  are  rainbows  of  to-morrow, 

Which  span  the  great  unknown. 

Yet,  while  my  heart  like  harp  is  broken, 

I  sometimes  think  withal, 
That  prayer  was  by  an  angel  spoken, 

Which  hangs  upon  the  Avail. 


Dawn.  101 


DAWN. 

AND  Night,  who  treads  the  vaulted  dome,  threw  o'er 
My  soul  the  shadow  of  her  lifted  hand, 
Veiling  ray  vision  from  her  starry  land; 

And  closed  from  my  fond  hope  that  golden  shore, 

Whose  spangle*!  pathways  I  should  walk  no  more. 
Then  did  the  heavens  recede,  and  all  the  grand 
Infinities  of  worlds  that  there  expand, 

And  left  me  groping  at  her  temple  door. 

Then  I  flung  down  my  faith  in  man  and  God; 
But  when  I  turned  to  drink  from  Lethe's  cup, 

Prophetic  DAWN,  whose  feet  are  sandal-shod 
With  heavenly  light,  forbade  my  soul  to  sup, — 

She  chased  the  shadows  with  her  roseate  rod, 
And  led  the  Morn  to  lift  my  spirit  up. 


102  The  Song  of  Kansas. 


THE  TEAR. 

SHE  weeping  dropped  a  tear,  and  when  it  fell 
A  poet  caught  the  little  pearly  sphere 
And  questioned  it;  and  his  enraptured  ear 

Caught  up  the  things  which  it  began  to  tell. 

He  heard  the  tone  of  solemn  sounding  knell 
O'er  a  departed  Hope;  the  cry  of  Fear; 

•     The  wail  of  Anguish;   and  soft  sighings  dear 

Which  make  the  lover's  lonely  bosom  swell. 

And  there  he  saw  ensphered  a  mother's  heart. 
Bleeding  for  her  lost  child;  and  open  grave, — 

And  Love  amid  the  trophies  of  his  dart, 
With  every  throb  of  passion  that  it  gave. 

All  heights  of  joy,  and  depths  of  woe,  were  here 

Encompassed  in  the  ocean  of  a  tear. 


Life.  103 


LIFE. 

A  POET  wandered  on  some  shore  of  time, 

And  there  in  numbers  wrote  in  mimic  hand 

The  story  of  a  life  upon  the  sand; 
But  soon  the  tide  washed  out  the  poet's  rhyme. 
A  fair  sweet  flower  within  its  proper  clime, 

Alone,  unseen,  touched  by  some  magic  wand, 

Drooped  its  fresh  face  and  wept  upon  the  land. 
Poet  and  flower  alike  is  life  sublime. 
But  whence,  O  Life !    come  these  fair  things,  the 
flower 

That  blooms,  the  bard  who  sings,  the  sea,  the  sky, 
The  scenes  of  love  with  their  enraptured  hour, 

When  everything  of  earth  is  born  to  die? 
There  is  no  CEdipus  with  godlike  power, 

To  guess  the  riddle  of  Life's  mystery. 


104  The  Song  of  Kansas. 


THE  LAST  ROLL. 

DURING  the  closyig  hours  of  thi-  Senate,  in  1883,  it  had  been  sngsrested 
that  the  next  roll  call  would  be  the  last  of  the  expiring  session.  The 
thought  occurred  to  the  author  that  a  poem  would  be  proper  at  this  junc- 
ture. A  hastily  written  one  was  submitted  privately  to  Senator  H.  C.  Sluss, 
who  pronounced  it  worthy  of  the  occasion,  and  moved  that  the  Assistant 
Secretary  be  heard  immediately  after  the  call  of  the  last  roll.  After  it 
was  read  Senator  A.  R.  Greene  offered  the  following  resolution,  which 
was  unanimously  adopted:  "  Resolved,  That  the  poem,  with  the  roll  of  the 
Senate  attached,  be  spread  upon  the  journal,  and  that  five  hundred  copies 
be  printed  for  the  use  of  the  Senate." 

THE  gavel  came  down,  and  a  look  of  sadness 

Came  over  the  President's  face; 
And  the  noisy  rattle  of  mirth  and.  gladness 

Was  hushed,  while  each  one  in  his  place, 
Felt  around  his  heart  creeping  a  sorrow  past  his 

control, 

As  the  President  said:    "Secretary,  call  the  last 
roll!" 


Here  are  now  gathered  from  out  this  fair  land. 

A  senate  of  forty  strong  men: 
Farmer,  doctor,  lawyer,  merchant,  now  stand 

With  work  done  —  a  work  that  no  pen 
Can  undo,  until    Time  writes  on   his  old    battle- 
scarred  scroll, 

The  work  of  a  world  all  done,  and  his  call  of  the 
last  roll. 


The  Last  Roll.  105 

Now  is  the  time  when  all  differences  cease, 

All  faiths  and  religions  are  one; 
And  each  high  Senator  gives  a  release 

Of  all  past  claims  under  the  sun 
That  he  had  on  his  brother,  in  pledge  of  word, 

deed  or  dole, 

And  shakes  hands  freely  all  round  at  the  call  of 
the  last  roll. 

Each  hobby  goes  out,  lean,  lank,  and  unsaddled; 

Each  man  is  the  peer  of  his  brother; 
All  issues  now  end,  e'en  those  that  were  straddled, 

While  souls  now  embrace  one  another;  — 
And  the  fierce  face  of  politics  the  old  flag  doth 

enroll, 

And  heart  beats  to  heart  kindly,  at  the  call  of  the 
last  roll. 

No  more  to  all  meet  on  this  rounded  ball, 

No  more  in  this  Senate  all  stand 
To  be  counted,  —  you  have  heard  the  last  "call"; 

And  now  comes  the  time  to  disband, — 
And  I  think  many  hot  tears  are  welling  up  in  the 

soul, 

As  you  now  hear,  and  respond  to  the  call  of  the 
last  roll. 


106 


The  Song  of  Kansas. 


But  I  ask :   Down  in  the  dim  future  years, 

On  the  shore  of  some  fair  Eden-land, 

May  you  not  all  meet,  —  a  senate  of  seers, 

And  clasp  the  affectionate  hand  ? 
Ah !   in  that  dim  depth  of  the  future,  that  fate  of 

the  soul, 

Who  knows  but  I  may  call  to  you  all  the  old  Sen- 
ate roll  ? 


ROLL   OF  THE   SENATE. 


AI.'  F  r..  H.  M. 
ANDERSON.  T. 
BENSON,  A.  W. 
BLUE,  R.  W. 
BOLING,  T.  O.  V. 
BRADBURY,  L. 
BRETFOOLE,  L.  W. 
BRIOOS,   I..   M. 
BRODERICK,  CASK. 
BROWN,  N.  B. 
BUCK  AN,  W.  J. 
CASE,  G.  H. 
CLARK.  A.  B. 
COGSWELL,  A.  P. 


COI  LINS,  IRA  F. 
CRANE,  R.   M. 
EVEREST,  A.  8. 
FINCH,  L.  E. 
FITNSTON,  E.  H. 
GLA9SE,  W.  B. 
GREENE.  A.  R. 
HACKNEY,  W.  P. 
HOGG,  B.  F. 
HtTTCHINSON,  PERRY. 
JOHNTZ,  JOHN. 
JONES,  X.  T. 
KELLKY,  HARRISON. 


LONG,  J.  C. 
MC  LOUTH,  A. 
XETSKER,  D.  C. 
MOTZ.  SIMON. 
PATCHIN,  A.  L. 
RECTOR,  J.  W. 
RIDDLE,  A.  P. 
SEXTON.  J.  Z. 
SLU8S.  H.  C. 
THACHER,  8.  O. 
WARE,  E.  F. 
WILKIE,  NEIL. 
WILLIAMS,  B.  M. 


University  of  Michigan.  107 


UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  LITERATURE,  SCIENCE  AND  THE  ARTS. 

A.  poem  delivered  June  27,  1888,  before  the  class  of  1858,  at  the  reunion 
after  thirty  years. 

THE   CLASS. 


THAN 
I.UTH 
HEN  I 
H.  B. 

ASKEW. 
R  BECKWITII. 
A.  BUCK. 

OMBK8. 

R.  M.  JOHNSON. 
DANIEL  KLOSZ. 
A.  J.  LOi.MIS. 

BROWSE  J.  PRENTIS. 
OSCAR  F.  PRICE. 
J.  E.  PRUTZMAN. 

GEO. 
GEO. 

J.'<J. 
T.  O. 
JOHN 

CHESTER. 

LEWIS  MCLOUTH. 

A.  RICHARD. 
8.  E.  SMITH. 

NX  IS. 
FRITCHET. 

RAVES. 

C.  R.  MILLER. 
JOEL  MOODY. 
ROBT.  8.  MOORE. 
JUDD  M.  MOTT. 

A.  K.  8PENCB. 
JAMES  W.  STARK. 
O.  P.  STEARNS. 
GEO.  P.  SWEET. 

HORACE    IIAI.BERT. 
L.  E.  HOLDEN. 
JOHN  HORNER. 
M.  E.  N.  HOWELL. 
H.  A.  HUMPHREY. 

A.  NEFF. 

L.  M.  O'BRIEN. 

J.  W.  PAINE 
C.  8.  PATTERSON. 

GEO.  W.  WALL. 
D.  B.  WEBSTER. 
F.  R.  WILL'AMS. 
W.  8.  WOODRUFF. 

THRENODY. 
I. 

THE  Years;   daughters  of  Time,  have  laugh' d 

And  wept  in  circling  'round, 
Since  we  were  students  here,  and  trod 

This  classic  college  ground. 
Came  they  in  garb  of  flow'ry  May, 

Or  whitening  wintry  snow; 
With  wreath  of  bay  or  daffodil; 

Came  they  to  reap  or  sow; 
The  flow' ret  here  to  cast  that  cheers, 

The  ashes  there  of  woe; 


108  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Their  fleeting  forms  went  swiftly  by, 

And  thirty  in  their  turn, 
Have  dropped  the  off 'ring  of  their  hands 

Within  the  golden  urn. 


n. 

Recollections  holy  !  how  like 

A  troop  of  angel  forms 
Arise,  bringing  the  olden  times; 

And  all  our  being  warms. 
To  see  the  fond,  fair  pictures  that 

They  hold  to  Memory's  eye; 
Turning  the  thought  to  dear  old  scenes, 

As  they  go  glinting  by. 
At  this,  convulsed,  we  happv  laugh, 

At  that,  we  heave  the  sigh; 
While  now  some  fairy  stands  in  view, 

And  Memory  loves  to  dwell 
With  sacred  form  that  haunts  the  soul, 

And  charms  with  magic  spell. 


Backward  through  years;  and  now  we  ask 

As  there  transported  stand 
Upon  the  boundary  of  some 

Far-off  enchanted  land: 


University  of  Michigan.  109 

What  hallowed  sound  is  that  which  comes 

Upon  the  waves  sublime, 
Now  gently  falling  on  the  ear 

Like  some  old  mystic  rhyme, 
And  sets  our  spirits  all  a-dancing 

To  its  rhythmic  chime? 
Breathe  not  the  word  to  earthly  forms; 

To  heaven  its  virtues  tell; 
While  Thirty  Years  ring  out:  the  tone 

Of  dear  old  college  bell. 


IV. 

How  sad  the  thought,  as  now  we  go, 

Boys  again,  arm  in  arm 
Down  through  the  college  grounds  and  halls, 

Striving  the  ancient  charm 
To  find;   striving  alas!   in  vain. 

The  old  cannot  be  found; 
Nor  ancient  seat  where  once  we  sat; 

Nor  open  college  ground; 
Nor  bell  that  rang  us  out  and  in 

With  its  melodious  sound. 
Little  the  use  of  coming  back 

To  search  for  ancient  joys, 
For  all  we  find  of  what  was  here, 

When  we  were  college  boys. 


110  The  Song  of  Kansas. 


Gone  is  the  dear  old  chancellor:  boys 

Were  we  of  Tappan's  pride: 
The  me  and  not  me  of  his  lore, 

These  too  are  laid  aside. 
Wisdom,  he  told  us,  is  to  grow; 

And  little  were  the  odds 
When  Reason1  s' great  informing  law, 

Which  working  in  the  clods 
Of  flesh,  transports  the  sonls  of  men, 

And  lifts  them  unto  gods: 
To  grow  in  beauty  and  in  grace, 

Not  cumbering  the  ground; 
But  stalworth  plants  of  earth,  reaching 

To  heaven,  with  honor  crowned. 


Wise  were  the  lessons  that  he  taught, 

And  with  benignant  care; 
And  quick  to  grow  within  our  souls, 

The  seeds  he  scattered  there. 
Wide  and  generous  was  his  thought, 

Clasping  the  human  race: 
Deep  was  his  love;   and  we  could  read, 

As  beaming  on  his  face, 
Came  the  true  story  of  his  heart, 

That  there  we  had  a  place 


University  of  Michigan.  Ill 

August  he  stands  like  holy  sage, 

In  majesty  of  soul, 
Pointing  to  Truth;  and  bids  our  names 

In  her  great  book  enroll. 


High  hopes  and  will  for  any  fate 

Inspire,  as  now  we  stand 
On  great  commencement  day  and  take 

The  parchment  from  his  hand. 
How  on  the  mental  vision  crowd 

The  freighted  scenes,  which  hold 
Their  places  in  the  chambers 

Of  the  soul,  and  gild  the  old 
With  their  fantastic  hues,  and  deck 

The  dark  with  threads  of  gold  ! 
Now  o'er  his  grave  in  foreign  land, 

We  bow  in  sorrow  there; 
Nor  comes  the  blessing  from  his  hand, 

Nor  from  his  lips  the  prayer. 


How  hath  it  fared  with  us  since  then, 

When  with  elastic  tread, 
We  passed  the  threshold  of  these  halls 

With  halo  'round  our  head? 


112  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Wide  is  the  world,  and  many  a  voice 

Invites  us  to  the  prize; 
Fame  with  his  clarion  notes,  and  War 

Invites  where  patriot  dies: 
And  fairy  Fancies  call,  arid  high 

The  stars  of  Glory  rise. 
Into  the  depths  of  life's  great  sea 

We  plunge,  and  on  its  waves 
We  ride  o'er  sunken  hopes,  and  see 

Their  wintry,  watery  graves. 


IX. 

The  halos  'round  our  youthful  heads 

Soon  vanish  into  air; 
And  all  the  clustering  laurels  fall 

That  we  had  gathered  there. 
Then  on  the  dusty  road  of  life, 

Some  went  to  earn  a  name; 
And  long  they  sat  beneath,  and  conned 

The  finger-board  of  Fame. 
The  path  they  took  to  right  or  left, 

To  them  was  all  the  same; 
The  one  who  reached,  and  he  who  failed. 

Soon  found  what  Tappan  said: 
Is  hunger  of  the  soul,  and  wailed 

At  last  for  heavenly  bread. 


University  of  Michigan.  113 

x. 

The  star  of  Glory  too  doth  pass 

Before  our  waiting  eyes, 
Like  falling  meteor  seen  awhile, 

Then  on  the  vision  dies: 
Arid  all  the  Fancies  of  our  youth 

Now  wreathe  the  brows  of  Fact; 
Who  stubborn  stood  upon  the  road, 

And  bid  us  dare  to  act: 
While  he  the  coward  struck  with  blade, 

And  him  who  virtue  lacked. 
He  bid  us  reap  in  life' s  great  field, 

And  harvest  home  the  sheaves; 
For  Autumn  comes  at  last,  to  strew 

Our  paths  with  withered  leaves. 


XI. 

And  War  hath  called,  and  many  went 

The  Nation's  flag  to  save. 
In  honor  all  we  stand,  but  some 

Adorn  the  patriot's  grave. 
They  answered  to  the  bugle's  call 

And  to  their  country's  prayer. 
Now  at  their  graves  we  sadly  meet 

And  lay  the  garland  there, 
Wreathed  by  a  classmate' s  hands  in  love, 

And  with  a  soldier's  care. 


114  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Bnive  children  they,  who  went  to  die 
Upon  their  country's  breast, 

And  sleeping  there,  in  glory  lie 
Within  her  arms  at  rest. 


xn. 

Dear  class  of  Fifty-Eight,  clasp  hands, 

And  with  the  warm,  firm  grip 
Of  friendship,  let  the  old  wine  of 

Thirty  years  touch  the  lip. 
Here  are  we  met,  mellowed  with  age 

And  ripened  to  the  core; 
Again  to  part;  perchance  to  meet 

When  life's  brief  work  is  o'er, 
With  those  who  passed  its  boundaries 

To  some  Arcadian  shore; 
Perhaps  within  that  realm  unknown 

To  find  life's  better  part; 
If  not,  Hope  dying  shall  condone 

This  token  of  the  heart. 


Old  Captain  Sumpter.  115 


OLD  CAPTAIN  SUMPTER. 

THE  following  poem  was  recited  at  the  camp  fire  on  the  evening  be- 
fore the  unveiling  of  the  soldiers'  monument  at  Mound  City,  October  24, 
1889.  Governor  L.  U.  Humphrey,  to  whom  the  poem  is  dedicated,  received 
the  original  manuscript.  Captain  Sumpter  died  suddenly,  while  telling 
his  little  grandson  about  the  war.  He  was  a  member  of  the  military  order 
of  the  Loyal  Legion. 

"Grandpa,"  said  little  Sam,  as  he  came  in 
From  play,  "were  you  a  soldier  of  the  war? 

And  did  you  stick  to  Uncle  Sam  and  win  ? 
And  did  you  get  that  great,  long,  ugly  scar 

Upon  your  face  by  standing  to  your  colors  true, 

While  you  did  march,  and  fight,  and  wear  the  sol- 
dier's blue?" 

"Why  do  you  ask?"  said  Sumpter  old  and  gray; 

"Come  to  my  side,  my  boy,  and  tell  me  why 
Such  thoughts  as  these  do  thus  disturb  your  play?" 

And  as  he  spoke  there  stood  within  his  eye 
A   trembling  tear,    which   sparkling  shone    like 

morning  dew; 

"Why  do  you  ask  about  the  war,  and  those  who 
wore  the  blue  ? ' ' 

"Because,"  said  little  Sam,  "we  boys  play  war; 

We  drum,  and  march  and  fight  with  wooden  guns; 
And  then  our  captain  wears  a  shining  star, 

And  says:  '  Be  brave  !  the  man  is  killed  who  runs! 


116  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Stand  to  your  colors  like  a  Union  volunteer ! ' 
And  when  the  enemy  is  hit  and  fulls  we  cheer ! 


"And  then  you  know,  on  Decoration  days, 
The  pretty  girls  do  come  with  flowers  to  strew 

The  graves  of  soldiers  dead,  and  rich  bouquets 
They  tie  with  ribbons  —  red  and  white  and  blue, 

The  colors  of  this  button  here  in  your  lapel, — 

And  place  them  on  the  grassy  mounds  of  those 
who  fell." 


The  tear  then  dropped,  and  fell  on  Sammy's  brow; 
But  the  soldier's  eyes  were  fixed  upon  the  sky, 
And  wore  a  dreamy  look,  as  if  somehow 

To  scenes  of  other  years  —  to  days  gone  by — 
His  thought  had  turned  entranced,  and  lingering 

far  away, 

On  things  grown  old  perhaps,   but  not  to  him 
grown  gray. 

"Yes,  my  lad,"  he  then  began,  "hear  me  now: 
When  Sumpter  fell  I  saw  my  flag  go  down; 

I  saw  the  patriot  blood  on  Ellsworth's  brow, 
Which  now  immortal  wreaths  of  glory  crown; 

And  as  he  tore  the  traitor's  flag  I  saw  him  fall, — 

Then  as  a  voice  from   heaven  I  heard  my  country 
call. 


Old  Captain  Sumpter.  117 

"Your  father  was  a  little  lad  like  you, 
Not  in  his  teens;  and  sister  running  round 

And  prattling  every  word  of  love  she  knew: — 
At  such  a  time,  at  home,  I  heard  the  sound 

Of  fife  and  drum,  that  mustering  rolled  from  sea 
to  sea, 

And  patriotic  words  of  Abe  that  called  for  me. 

41  Then  to  defend  the  starry  flag  I  swore  — 

The  flag  for  which  I  saw  my  country  rise  — 
Sadly  I  lingered  at  my  cabin  door, 

And  lingering  looked  through  tears  to  tearful 

eyes; 

How  could  I  then  from  wife  and  little  ones  depart, 
When  beating  drum  was  drowned  by  the  beating 
of  my  heart ! 

"But  Heaven  gives  strength  to  man  in  times  like 
these  — 

They  said  I  went  for  fear  the  boys  would  lag  — 
But  one  acts  sometimes  better  than  he  sees; 

And  what  is  home  without  the  patriot's  flag? 
It  is  a  place  in  which  tempestuous  tumults  roll; 
Or  palace  built  by  man  without  a  human  soul. 

"For  this  I  left  to  weeds  the  planted  corn, 
The  plow  forsaken  in  the  field  to  rust;  • 

And  with  a  prayer  to  God  for  lambs  new  shorn, 
Into  His  hands  committed  I  the  trust; 


118  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

And  oft  a  thought  would  turn  to  dear  ones  left 

behind, 
And  oft  the  thought:    If  killed,  will  the  Nation 

then  be  kind? 

"On  Shiloh's  bloody  field,  in  Vicksburg's  vale, 
And  in  the  clouds  on  Lookout's  dizzy  crest, 

We  met  our  country's  foes,  and  told  the  tale       , 
Of  battles  won  by  soldiers  of  the  West; 

Then  from  Atlanta  marched  for  honors  yet  to  be, 

Until  our  banners  kissed  the  waters  of  the  sea. 

"Stayed  not  the  march,  but  up  toward  Lee  we 

turned, 

A  thundering,  fighting  phalanx,  'hot  from  hell,' 
But  Grant  took  him  for  whom  our  banners  burned, 

And  Treason  there  at  Appomattox  fell. 
Sammy,  you  are  well  up  in  school,  you  know  the 

rest, 

But  I  was  a  Union  volunteer  and  a  soldier  of  the 
West. 

"Then  came  the  grand  review  at  Washington, 
When  Peace  lit  on  the  flag  all  battle  torn; — 

And  when  I  think  on  all  the  battles  lost  and  won, 
The  comrades  dear,  and  lives  and  loves  outworn, 

The  famous  names  that   live  upon   the   Nation's 
scroll, 

The  flag  is  worth  them  all,  the  mistress  of  my  soul. 


Old  Captain  Surripter.  119 

"This  button  is  an  emblem  of  the  flag; 

The  flag  an  emblem  of  a  patriot's  love; 
And  while  my  weary  hours  through  life  I  drag, 

I '  11  wear  it  like  a  sacred  charm  above 
My  heart."      He  ceased;  his  voice  had  to  a  whis- 
per died, 

While    the  fond   hand,   unclasped,   had    dropped 
from  Sammy'1  s  side. 

His  cheek  fell  soft  upon  the  youthful  brow, 
Like  age  supported  by  the  youthful  limb; 
"Please  tell  me  more,"  said  Sammy,  "please," 

but  now 

The  ear  heard  not  the  tender  call  to  him. 
Life's  floating  flag  was  furled  o'er  drooping  head; 
His  soul  had  joined  the  "Loyal  Legion"  of  the 
dead. 


120  The  Song  of  Kansas. 


THE  GUEST  AT  HOME. 

THERE  is  a  guest  true  hearted  who  comes, 
Be  the  day  ever  so  dark  or  so  fair, 
And  spreads  o'er  my  face  her  curtain  of  hair; 

While  strains  of  old  songs  she  soothingly  hums. 

Then  on  my  bosom  she  tenderly  lies, 

And  presses  her  love-prayer  warm  to  my  lip; 
While  softly  her  dark  lashes  sweepingly  dip 

Into  the  deep  rivers  flooding  my  eyes. 

No  voice  do  I  hear,  no  form  do  I  see; 

No  warm  hand  to  press,  nor  kisses  to  share; 

No  footfall  to  greet,  and  vacant  her  chair; 
But  still  in  my  home  she  cometh  to  me. 

The  world  may  say  I'm  alone  and  forsaken; 
But  little  it  dreams  of  the  angel  who  cheers, 
And  brings  to  me,  laden  with  perfume  of  years, 

Both  lily  and  rose,  old  loves  to  awaken. 


The  Sawmill  of  the  Gods.  121 


THE  SAWMILL  OF  THE  GODS. 

TIIIS  poem  was  recited  by  the  author  at  a  banquet  given  by  the 
alninni  of  the  University  of  Mich.gan,  May  23,  1890,  at  the  Coates  House, 
Kansas  City. 

"The  mills  of  the  gods  grind  slow." 

THE  sawmill  of  the  gods  saws  slowly  the  tree; — 
No  matter  how  hard  or  how  soft  it  may  be, 
Nor  the  kind,  whether  oak  or  basswood  or  pine, 
The  sawdust  comes  out  of  it  almighty  fine. 

And  noiseless  it  runs  as  the  hourglass  of  Time; 
And  sharply  it  cuts,  and  its  work  is  sublime; 
For  high  on  Olympus  this  sawmill  doth  stand, 
Arid  ever  it  runs  by  an  almighty  hand. 

On  the  timber  of  mortals  it  saweth  away; 
And  ever  it  saws  by  night  and  by  day; 
And  it  faithfully  saws  up  all  kinds  of  wood, — 
The  infernal  bad  and  almighty  good. 

Trees  that  storms  and  lightning  have  ruined  and  rift; 
Rotten  of  heart;  and  slimy  dead  wood  and  drift; 
Old  haunts  of  the  vermin,  where  the  woodpecker 

lurks, 
Are  sawed  in  this  mill  where  the  Almighty  works. 


122  The  Sang  of  Kansas. 

And  the  buzz-saw  therein  shines  bright  as  the  suns.  — 
Forged  by  old  Vulcan,  —  and  like  lightning  it  runs, 
With  this  notice  above  it  lettered  in  chert : 
"The  man  who  here  monkeys  gets  mightily  hurt." 

And  there  an  inspector  stands  silent  and  sad, 
To  divide  all  that 's  sawed,  the  good  from  the  bad; 
For  says  an  old  saw:    "In  the  mills  of  the  gods, 
Between  good  and  bad  there 's  an  almighty  odds." 

And  the  one  who  divides,  divideth  it  well;  — 
The  sap,  shake,  and  slabs  he  slides  into  hell; 
But  the  sound  he  saves  for  the  house  of  the  god, 
Who  shaketh  the  earth  with  his  almighty  nod. 

And  in  the  divide  of  the  sawed  it  is  well 
To  consider,  how  much  may  slide  into  hell; 
For  it  seems  to  your  servant  singing  this  hymn, 
That  the  part  for  the  gods  is  almighty  slim. 

Friends,  I  'm  a  lumberman,  and  tell  what  I  know, — 
That  in  poor  grades  there's  hell  and  profits  are 

low, — 

But  we'll  find  when  we  get  to  Jupiter's  land, 
That  the  profit  in  "clears"  is  almighty  grand. 

And  as  we  pass  through  the  Arcadian  grove 
Where  all  the  great  gods  and  fair  goddesses  rove, 
We  may  be  invited  to  a  banquet  most  grand 
Where  nectar  exalts  in  that  almighty  land. 


The  Sawmill  of  the  Gods.  123 

Where    Orpheus,  —  for    strains    that    lingeringly 

dwell, 

Doth  finger  the  strings  of  the  enchanted  shell; 
And  for  music  on  high,  which  ever  shall  lead, 
Old  Marsyas  doth  pipe  his  almighty  reed. 

Then  may  we  behold  our  great  Tappan  advance, 
With  proud  Juno  in  hand,  to  lead  in  a  dance, 
And  we  shall  all  join  the  Olympian  girls, 
And  laugh  when  Jupiter  shakes  his  almighty  curls. 

Nor  will  be  debarred  from  that  banqueting  floor 
The  girls  of  our  campus,  who  are  read  in  the  lore 
Of  Homer  and  Virgil,  and  passed  all  our  classes, 
And  have  climbed  the  heights  of  almighty  Par- 


124  The  Song  of  Kama*. 


"LOOKING  BACKWARD 


TO   MRS.  W.  I.  WAY,  TOPEKA,    KANSAS. 

THE  author  was  asked  what  he  thought  of  Bellamy's  "Looking  Back- 
ward", and  responded  as  follows:  It  is  the  old  satyr  which  Plato  in  his 
"Banquet"  made  Alcibiades  liken  Socrates  to.  It  is  a  rude  and  wanton 
goat,  with  horns  and  cloven  hoof,  and  hairy  skin  wrapped  round  a  hidden 
god  within,  who  pipes  the  heavenly  music  of  Marsyas.  I  submit  the  fol- 
lowing review  as  a  close  imitation  in  theory  and  plan  of  book,  but  not  in 
diction  or  subject 


l< 


Looking  Backward  !  "     I '  ve  read  the  book,  — 

It's  wearisome  and  trifling; 
It's  an  old  salt,  like  the  leal  look 

Of  Lot's  unsavory  wifeling, 
Looking  backward. 

As  I  look  back  to  boyhood  years, 

Ah  !   sadly  I  remember, 
The  ride  I  took  with  my  bay  steers; 

'  T  was  coldly  in  December, 
As  I  look  lack. 

In  tumbling  leaps  old  tumblers  tip 

For  a  perspective  survey, 
Then  forward  jump  and  as  they  flip 

They  see  things  topsy-turvy, 
Li  tumbling  leaps. 


Looking  Backward.  125 

I  was  the  son  of  Deacon  Cash, — 
Sweet  was  the  preacher's  daughter, 

And  her  eyes  shone  in  heaven's  flash, 
Like  lakes  of  sparkling  water: 
I  was  the  sun. 

This  looking  back  is  a  torn  leaf 

From  out  old  Memory's  wish-book, — 

It  is  a  lie,  a  cheat,  a  thief, 
A  false  fly  on  the  fish  hook, 
This  looking  hack. 

She  was  the  girl  that  I  loved  best, 

Now,  since  the  last  September; 
And  my  heart  burned  beneath  my  vest, 

Just  like  a  hickory  ember, — 
She  was  the  girl. 

It  touches  not  the  heart  in  these 

Damp  days  of  solid  learning; 
We  pant  for  new  life,  the  fresh  breeze, 

Wafting  some  new  heart's  yearning,— 
It  touches  not. 

Upon  the  sled  away  we  bore; 

Robes  wrapped  us  up  in  gladness;^ 
Heavenly  stars !   how  they  ran  and  tore 

The  pure  white  snow! — white  sadness 
Upon  the  sled. 


126  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

It  is  too  old  for  this  day's  thought ; 

Lucretius  sleeps  with  Moses, — 

Give  us  the  thing  the  heart  has  wrought, 

Spellbound  with  this  day's  posies: 

It  is  too  old. 

Two  miles  from  fire, —  then  an  elm  tree 
Both  steers  together  straddled;  — 

'  T  was  lightning  struck  my  girl  and  me, 
And  stars  and  steers  skedaddled; 
Two  miles  from  fire. 

When  he  looked  back  on  ages  past 

Grand  Plato  saw  Atlantis; 
And  More,  Utopia  wrote  at  last; 

But  Bellamy  burst  their  panties, 
When  he  looked  lack. 

There  was  no  trouble  in  that  meeting, 
Reaching  the  heart  I  treasure; 

For  soon  I  found  it  proudly  beating 

To  mine  in  rhythmic  measure; 

There  was  no  trouble. 

If  we  look  back  in  prose  or  rhyme, 
Why  drawl  it  through  the  ages? 

Give  us  the  fire  of  present  time, 
To  burnish  up  the  pages, 
If  we  look  back. 


Looking  Backward.  127 

I  love  her  yet,  though  far  apart, — 
She  taught  me  early  teaming, — 

I  broke  my  steers,  she  broke  tny  heart,— 
But  there '  s  no  harm  in  dreaming 
Hove  her  yet. 

As  age  creeps  on  old  fields  we  glean, 
Bent  forward  at  the  gleaning ; — 

At  last  we  tumble  as  we  lean, 

Arid  Time  rakes  up  with  meaning, 
As  age  creeps  on. 


128  The  Song  of  Kansas. 


A  YOUNG  LADY'S  HOLOCAUST. 

MY  lover's  letters  saved  with  sacred  care, 
Tear  stained  I  bring  before  the  welcome  fire, 
Inspired  by  some  unholy,  fell  desire 

To  burn  these  missives,  once  so  sweet  and  fair, 

And  float  their  priceless  perfumes  in  the  air. 
Now  !  as  they  rise  upon  the  funeral  pyre, 
And  hopes  of  life  and  dreams  of  love  expire, 

It  seems  the  scent  of  blossoms  still  is  there. 

Dear,  darling  treasures  of  my  maiden  dream  ! 
The  brief,  fond  flutter  of  my  blooming  heart ! 

O  friendly  fire,  how  warm  and  bright  ye  gleam ! 
As  now  blind  Cupid's  trophies  here  depart. 

Henceforth  to  me  how  vain  and  weak  shall  seem 
The  captive  chains,  and  splendors  of  his  dart. 


Child  of  Fate.  129 


THE  CHILD  OF  FATE. 

The  child  of  fate  sat  on  a  grassy  bank 
Of  Time's  swift  stream,  and  careless  said:    "My 
plank 

I  launch,  and  on  this  flood  I '  11  reach  the  Great ! 

I  shall  be  honored  of  the  mighty  state, 
And  I  shall  rise,  and  none  shall  me  outrank." 
But  soon  athirst,  he  of  the  waters  drank, 
And  into  dark  forgetfulness  he  sank  — 

And  fortune  missed — with  dreamy  senses  sate — 
TJie  child  of  fate. 

Then  dear,  kind  Nature  came,  and  seized  the  crank, 
And  tore  him  from  his  raft,  where  chains  did  clank, 
And  said:    "Arise,  before  it  is  too  late!  " 
And  pounded  sense  and  shame  into  his  pate; 
And  then,  with  all  her  energies  did  spank 
The  child  of  fate. 


-9 


130  The  Song  of  Kansas. 


A  SCOTCH  SONG:  "STORMY  WEATHER." 

A  LASSIE  braw  had  cawd  her  kye 

Amang  the  tangled  heather; 
And  aften  she  would  moan  and  sigh: 

"It's  chill  and  stormy  weather; 
And  I'm  alane,  and  there  is  nane 

Wi'  whom  I  may  forgether; 
And  aft  I  greet  wi  my  cauld  feet, 

This  stoor  and  stormy  weather." 

When  Jamie  lad  cam  ower  the  knowe 

She  put  him  in  a  swither; 
As  modestly  she  tauld  him  how 

She  could  'na  thole  the  weather. 
He  asked  her  name,  and  whaur  her  hame, 

And  spiert  aboot  her  father; 
But  nane  she '  d  name,  to  tak  the  blame, 

But  cauld  and  stormy  weather. 

Then  Jamie  said:    "Come  bide  wi'  me 

While  it  is  stormy  weather; 
For  something  tells  me  in  your  e'e 

We'll  live  and  love  together." 
Then  he  laid  doon  his  plaid  and  shoon, 

And  Love  made  them  a  tether; — 
He  wrapped  her  roun',  and  they  were  soon 

Beyond  the  stormy  weather. 


A  German  Drinking  Song.  131 

He  whispered  in  her  ear  while  they 

Were  warm  and  sweet  thegither, 
And  said:    "You'll  niver  rue  the  day 

You  drave  amang  the  heather. 
You  '11  be  my  wife,  and  thro'  our  life 

We  '11  live  and  love  together; 
You  '11  tak  my  name,  and  in  our  hame 

There'll  ne'er  be  stormy  weather." 


A  GERMAN  DRINKING  SONG. 

OH!  peer's  goot  when  I  gets  full  mit  enof, 
Und  foor  dot  reasons  mine  beoples  I  lof ; 
Und  Sunday  to  der  peer-garten  I  goes, 
Mine  pelly  to  fill  oop  fon  head  to  toes. 

CHORUS: 

Oh !  gif  us  a  glass  of  peer,  boys, 

Gif  us  a  glass  of  peer. — 
Fill  oop  der  stein  so  white  mit  foam, 

To  stop  our  song  und  thirst; — 
Gif  it  to  all  dose  pellies  along, 

Alvays  not  full  to  burst. 

Und  mit  those  days  all  mine  droobles  he  goes, 
Und  den  mine  feelings  coom  oop,  und  I  grows  — 
Und  I  feel  so  big  dot  Gott  in  der  sky 
Va,s  not  so  tall  noor  so  bigger  as  I. 


132  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Und  I  gits  so  fool  of  lof  und  goot  cheer, 
Dot  religion  conies  on  top  of  mine  peer; — 
Und  I  lof  mine  brooder  so  goot  dot  day, 
I  gifs  to  him  all  mine  moneys  avay. 

Und  I  lofs  his  children  und  schweet  frau  too, 
Fur  dot  leetle  saucy  flies,  she  would  shoo 
Fon  mine  peer  glass,  und  alvays  my  nose, 
Und  den  I  calt  her  mine  Vaterland  rose. 

I  hat  all  der  times  mine  arm  rount  her  vaste 
Und  I  keest  her,  which  vas  schweet  to  my  taste; 
Und  on  dot  vat  did  we  do  und  propose? 
Yhy !  we  trink  some  more  peer !  vhat  you  suppose  ? 


'Eadmpt."  133 


"EXIMPT." 

CT  KELLY  he  swore,  and  bejabers  he  did, — 

That  the  head  of  a  family  lie  was, 
And  the  buggy  he  owned,  bejabers  he  said 

Was  ontoirly  eximpt  at  the  laws. 

Fur  the  raison  was  clear,  bejabers  it  was, 
That  he  hauled  therein  the  stuff  he  ate, 

And  whisky  he  drank,  when  he  plead  at  the  laws, 
And  rode  in,  fur  the  paple  to  chate. 

O1  Kelly  a  farmer,  bejabers  he  was, 

Who  leased  out  his  sole  acre  on  shares, 

To  the  big  bugs,  and  the  grasshoppers  and  craws, 
And  hauled  home  therein,  bejabers,  —  the  tares. 

And  a  granger  he  was,  bejabers  he  said, 

Before  whom  he  now  plead  his  own  cause, — 

And  fur  the  above  raisons,  and  other  ones  hid, 
This  buggy,  it  was  eximpt  at  the  laws. 


134  The  Song  of  Kansas. 


THE  LOANED  BOOK. 

I  LOANED  her  a  book,  'twas  a  beautiful  psalm, 
The  sweet  and  quaint  poem  of  Omar  Khayyam. 

From  my  own   hand   she    took    this    treasure   of 

mine, — 
This  story  of  Life,  and  read  line  upon  line. 

What  was  dark  as  a  dream  in  figure  of  speech, 
Clear  marginal  notes  the  true  meaning  did  teach 

And  pure  as  a  brook  that  runs  bright  over  sand, 
And  sparkling  with  truth,  was  this  book  from  my 
hand. 

Alas !  not  by  the  hand  in  which  it  was  placed, 
Like  some  Orient  gem  her  fingers  had  graced; 

But  by  far  other  hand  the  book  was  returned, 
As  tho'  the  hand  favored,  the  favor  had  spurned. 


Atone.  135 


ALONE. 

WHAT  sounds  of  sorrow  from  the  dark  inane 
Come  to  the  soul  that  feels  itself  alone! — 
Its  only  self  to  hear  the  lonely  groan, 

For  its  lost  self,  weeping  o'  er  friendships  slain, 

And  flitting  faiths  that  ne'er  will  come  again. 
It  is  the  storm  at  sea,  whose  thunder  tone 
Dies  in  the  misty  cloud  or  billows'  moan, 

Weeping  its  fitful  self  away  in  rain. 

And  I  have  seen  a  lone,  forsaken  bird, 

Whose  wonted  mate  was  dead,  droop  his  tired 
wing, 

And  wait  the  call  that  should  no  more  be  heard, — 
Until  the  storms  of  Winter  past,  and  Spring 

Had  budded  forth  again,  some  warbled  word 
Of  love  attuned  again  his  heart  to  sing. 


136  The  Song  of  Kanms. 


THE  ENCHANTED  GARDEN. 

THERE  is  a  garden  where  I  love  to  dwell, — 

There  no  rude  winds  do  blow,  nor  scorching  sun 
Shines  in  npon  the  work  ere  it  is  done; 

Nor  anything  there  done  too  sad  to  tell; 

For  there  all  life  is  an  enchanted  spell. 
It  is  a  place  where  crystal  waters  run, 
Gurgling  through  flowery  mead  which   charm- 
eth  one 

Like  the  soft  chimings  of  a  distant  bell. 

Within  this  garden  grows  the  tree  which  yields 
To  man  the  measure  of  its  fruitful  joys; 

And  in  its  mighty  top  and  branches  shields 
The  charmed  inmates  that  it  there  decoys; 

There  all  the  blushing  flowers  of  virtue  start, — 

It  is  the  garden  of  a  lovely  heart. 


Silver  Threads.  137 


SILVER  THREADS. 

TO  MRS.  JOHN    FARXSWORTH,  FORT    SCOTT,  KAXSAS. 

How  sad  the  years  do  beckon  back 
Our  thoughts  along  Life's  beaten  track; 
And  visions  of  the  long  ago 
Float  round  us  as  they  come  and  go, 
And  sacred  memories  linger  there, 
When  silver  threads  come  in  the  hair. 

And  sad  the  song  old  Ocean  sings, 

As  homeward  he  our  cargo  brings, 

To  find  our  ships  were  tempest  tossed, 
And  our  fond  hopes  were  sunk  and  lost. 

And  promised  wealths  were  buried  there, 

When  silver  threads  come  in  the  hair. 

And  sad  our  souls  are  bowed  in  grief, 

As  we  turn  over,  leaf  by  leaf, 

The  sacred  book  our  lives  have  made, 
To  find  therein  less  light  than  shade, 

And  long-lost  hearts  and  faces  fair, 

When  silver  threads  come  in  the  hair. 

Yet  sweet  it  is  for  us  to  know, 
That  flowers  do  live  beneath  the  snow; 
And  Winter  always  hath  its  Spring, 
When  flowers  will  bloom  and  birds  will  sing; 
And  souls  we  love  will  grow  more  fair, 
When  silver  threads  come  in  the  hair. 


138  The  Song  of  Kansas. 


WHAT  IS  THE  WORLD  TO  ME? 

WHAT  is  the  world  to  me  without 
One  loving  heart  to  cherish; 

Who  ne'er  my  faithful  love  will  doubt, 
Though  other  faiths  may  perish  ? — 

For  it's  a  phantom  flitting  past 

That  says:  No  faith  nor  love  shall  last. 

What  is  the  world  to  me,  when  no 
Soft  lips,  with  their  caressing, 

Invite  my  soul  to  stay,  and  go 
Not  elsewhere  for  its  blessing? — 

For  it's  no  phantom  of  the  air 

That  makes  those  lips  destroy  my  care 

What  is  the  world  to  me,  when  those 
Bright  eyes  the  fairies  lend  her, 

To  light  my  soul  to  its  repose, 
Shine  not  for  me  in  splendor? — 

For  'twas  a  phantom  of  the  mind 

That  painted  Eros  young  and  blind. 

What  is  the  world  to  me,  if  there 
Be  not  one  fond  and  certain 

To  veil  me  with  her  silken  hair, 
A  soft,  disheveled  curtain? — 

For  she's  no  phantom  of  the  night 

Who  veils  my  soul  in  soft  delight. 


What  is  the  World  to  Me?  139 

What  is  the  world  to  me,  although 
My  praise  be  world-wide  spoken, 

Without  some  one  to  say,  I  know 
His  pledge  was  never  broken  ? — 

For  piping  phantoms  never  voice 

That  praise  which  makes  my  heart  rejoice. 

What  is  the  world  to  me,  with  all 

Its  gilded  pomp  and  pleasure, 
Without  some  dearest  one  to  call 

My  own,  my  heart's  sweet  treasure? 
I  '11  have  no  phantom  in  my  grasp, 
But  one  soul's  wealth  of  love  to  clasp  1 


140  The  Song  of  Kansas. 


"THE  MAPLES." 

NAME  of  my  home,  at  Mound  City.    Suggested  by  MRS.  EI.LA  C.  PORTER. 

YE  village  of  the  Maple  hills, 

I  sing  thy  song, — 
Bowed  in  the  shadows  of  the  past, 

I  plaint  thy  wrong; — 
Let  every  sense  that  beauty  thrills 

Thy  praise  complete ! 
For  Nature  brings  her  gifts  to  cast 

Them  at  thy  feet. 

Ye  Maples  of  the  towering  hills 

And  flowery  glade ! 
How  thy  tall  trunks  and  branches  cast 

The  somber  shade ! 
And  while  rny  soul  thy  beauty  thrills, 

Thy  shadows  creep  — 
For  in  the  shadows  of  the  past, 

My  hopes  do  sleep. 

Dear  Maples !    now  thy  shimmering  leaves 

For  loving  kiss, 
Turn  throbbing  to  the  evening  breeze 

With  floating  bliss. 


"The  Maples.''  141 

How  oft  beneath  thy  dripping  eaves, 

In  summer  shower, 
Have  warblers  of  the  summer  trees 

Enjoyed  thy  bower ! 

How  doth  my  soul  the  shimmering  leaves 

Of  Memory  kiss ! 
How  oft  my  heart  doth  throbbing  seize 

The  floating  bliss ! 
When  baby  arms,  in  snow-white  sleeves, 

Did  bless  the  Power 
That  spread  the  shadows  of  the  trees, 

For  summer  hour. 

Sweet  Maples !     Now  your  saddening  shade 

Doth  crape  my  head; 
As  reverently  I.  lowly  bow 

Unto  my  dead. 
Two  sister  hearts  are  lowly  laid, 

Both  safe  and  sweet: — 
'The  Maples"  cast  their  shadows  now, 

Close  to  their  feet. 


HISTORIC  NOTES. 


NOTE  1. 

One  of  the  most  memorable  expeditions  which  followed 
the  conquest  of  Mexico  was  that  led  by  Francisco  Vasquez  de 
Coronado,  in  search  of  the  seven  cities  of  Cibola  and  the  famed 
land  of  Quivira,  during  the  years  1540  to  1542. 

It  takes  us  back  to  a  time  when  but  little  was  known  of  this 
western  hemisphere,  or,  in  fact,  of  the  size,  shape  or  geography 
of  the  earth;  to  a  time  when  physical  science  was  unknown, 
save  what  had  come  down  from  Aristotle;  to  a  time  when  the 
reason  of  man,  inquiring  after  the  causes  of  things,  founded  its 
speculations  on  fancy  rather  than  fact.  It  was  just  at  the 
dawn  of  intellectual  freedom,  ushered  in  by  the  invention  of 
printing;  and  nineteen  years  before  Elizabeth  ascended  the 
throne  of  England,  whose  reign  named  an  age  in  letters  and 
science.  It  was  eighty  years  before  Bacon  gave  to  the  world 
his  Novuin  Organuui;  sixty  years  before  Shakespeare  put  upon 
the  stage  those  masterly  plays  which  will  outlive  his  nation; 
and  eighty  years  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  with  their  story  of 
grief  to  chant  their  song  of  freedom  in  the  American  wildfr- 
ness. 

This  army  which  Coronado  led  out  of  Mexico,  to  go  with 
him  in  quest  of  gold  and  to  plant  the  cross  on  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  on  the  plains  of  Kansas,  contained  only  three 
hundred  men,  but  the  best  and  noblest  blood  of  Spain  ran  in 
their  veins.  It  is  said  no  other  expedition  in  the  new  world 
contained  more  men  of  noble  birth.  Among  them  we  find  the 
resolute  Captains  Melchior  Diaz  and  Juan  de  Saldibar,  who, 
with  but  twelve  men  as  an  advance  guard,  penetrated  the 
primeval  wilderness  northward  seven  hundred  miles,  and  after- 
ward, under  the  direction  of  Coronado,  went  in  search  of  and 
found  the  records  of  the  adventurer  and  sailor,  Don  Fernando 


144  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Alargon,  who  had  ascended  the  Colorado  river  160  miles  from 
its  mouth,  but  who  was  forced  to  abandon  the  expedition  at 
the  northern  extremity  of  the  Gulf  of  California.  Heruaudo 
d'  Alvarado  was  also  another  great  captain,  who  with  small  de- 
tachments of  troops  explored  the  country  for  many  hundreds 
of  miles  right  and  left  of  Coronado's  route.  We  find  also  the 
historians  Castaneda  and  Jaramillo,  who  accompanied  the  ex- 
pedition from  beginning  to  end,  and  faithfully  chronicled  its 
history. 

When  we  consider  this  small  troop  of  men  separating  them- 
selves from  their  companions  in  arms,  and,  without  any  base 
for  supplies,  plunging  into  an  unknown  wilderness,  with  its  in- 
accessible mountains,  its  mighty  streams,  and  treeless,  sandy 
deserts,  to  there  subsist  on  what  the  chase  or  the  Indian  could 
bestow,  to  contend  against  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons,  the 
climate  and  the  elements,  and  to  encounter  for  nearly  three 
years  the  savage  beasts  and  more  savage  man,  we  are  over- 
whelmed with  wonder  at  their  daring  and  fortitude.  It  reveals 
to  us  in  no  small  degree  the  indomitable  pluck  and  energy,  the 
sturdy  and  tireless  soldiery,  and  the  unbounded  zeal  which  ani- 
mated those  old  Spanish  cavaliers  who  fought  the  battles  of 
Spain  under  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  and  established  the  power 
and  glory  of  Charles  the  Fifth. 

NOTE  2. 

The  immediate  cause  of  Coronado's  march  was  the  marvel- 
ous story  which  Alvar  Nunez  Cabeca  de  Vaca  told  on  his  ar- 
rival in  Mexico,  after  having  traveled  from  east  to  west  across 
the  continent.  This  celebrated  gentleman  and  historian,  whom 
Robertson  calls  "one  of  the  most  gallant  and  virtuous  of  Span- 
ish adventurers,"  was  the  treasurer  of  that  ill-fated  military  ex- 
pedition undertaken  by  Narvaez  in  Florida,  in  the  year  1528.  In 
less  than  one  year  this  whole  command  perished,  either  by  the 
enemy,  by  starvation,  or  the  elements.  Cabega  with  three 
others  alone  survived.  They  remained  with  the  natives  for 
six  years,  near  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  at  la.st, 
after  having  learned  the  language,  the  habits  aud  character  of 


Historic  Notes.  145 

the  Indian  tribes  frequenting  those  parts,  they  effected  their 
escape.  They  passed  northward  into  the  mountains  of  Ala- 
bama; then  taking  a  northwestern  course  into  Tennessee,  were 
the  first  white  men  to  discover  the  Mississippi  river,  which 
Cabega  called  '•'•the  great  river"  coming  from  the  north.  This 
discovery  preceded  De  Soto  at  least  six  years.  This  river  they 
crossed,  and  traveled  westward  through  northern  Arkansas, 
and  up  the  Arkansas  around  the  great  bend.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  Cabega  and  his  companions  were  the  first  white 
men  within  historic  times  who  had  touched  upon  the  soil  of 
Kansas.  It  is  reported  by  the  chroniclers  of  Corouado's  ex- 
pedition that  "ten  days  after  leaving  the  Rio  de  Cicuye","  (at  a 
point  near  the  present  town  of  Pecos,  on  their  march,)  "they 
discovered  some  tents  of  tanned  buffalo  skins,  inhabited  by  In- 
dians who  were  like  Arabs,  and  who  were  called  Querechios, 
and  continuing  their  march  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  they 
soon  came  to  a  village  which  Cabega  de  Vaca  and  Dorantes 
had  passed  through  on  their  way  from  Florida  to  Mexico." 

This  village  was  at  least  250  miles  from  the  present  town  of 
Pecos,  and  by  the  "trail"  was  certainly  in  Kansas.  This  old 
Indian  trail,  along  which  was  borne. the  commerce  of  pre- 
historic times,  passed  just  west  of  the  great  canon  of  the  Cana- 
dian river,  thence  through  the  cities  of  Cibola  into  Old  Mexico. 
On  this  trail  Cabega  went  thence  through  New  Mexico,  passing 
near  Zuni's  heights  and  southward  to  Old  Mexico,  where  he 
arrived  in  1536,  having  been  one  year  on  his  journey.  His 
report,  made  up  of  the  story  of  his  bondage,  his  travels  and 
trials  by  laud  and  sea,  his  knowledge  of  a  vast  continent  which 
he  had  traversed,  the  home  of  heretofore  unknown  races  of 
men,  all  colored  in  fervid  language  and  imagination,  became 
a  great  unwritten  poem  of  adventure  to  Corouado,  of  which  he 
should  become  the  hero  in  daring  deeds  and  brilliant  exploits. 

NOTE  3. 

The  seven  cities  of  Cibola,  instead  of  being  that  in  number, 
and  instead  of  being  "a  great  city,  inhabited  with  great  store 
of  people,  and  having  streets  and  market  places,  and  built  of 
— 10 


146  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

certain  great  houses  of  five  stories  high,  of  lime  and  stone," 
turned  out  to  be  a  few  common  Pueblo  adobes.  These  struc- 
tures were  composed  of  dried  mud,  and  were  seldom  more  than 
one  story  high,  similar  in  all  respects  to  those  of  the  Tlascaus 
and  Tescucans  of  Mexico  at  the  time  of  the  conquest.  J.  H. 
Simpson,  in  liis  article  on  the  "Seven  Cities  of  Cibola,"  (Smith- 
sonian Report,  1869,)  says:  "In  the  year  1530,  Nu&o  de  Guz- 
man, president  of  New  Spain,  was  informed  by  his  slave,  an 
Indian  from  the  province  of  Tejos,  situated  somewhere  north 
from  Mexico,  that  in  his  travels  he  had  seen  cities  so  large  that 
they  might  compare  with  the  City  of  Mexico;  that  these  cities 
were  seven  in  number,  and  had  streets  that  were  exclusively 
occupied  by  workers  in  gold  and  silver;  that  to  reach  them  a 
journey  of  forty  days  was  required,  and  that  travelers  pene- 
trated that  region  by  directing  their  steps  northwardly  between 
the  two  seas."  This  story  proved  to  be  one  of  the  many  Indian 
fables  told  to  the  Spanish  adventurer  for  the  purpose  of  excitr 
ing  or  curing  his  disease — "the  desire  for  gold." 

Cibola  was  never  found,  for  the  reason  that  it  never  existed. 
Simpson,  above  quoted,  thinks  Zufii  is  the  spot.  He  followed 
the  guess  of  Gallatin,  Squier,  Whipple,  Prof.  Turner,  and  Kern. 
Others  think  Chaco  the  spot;  some  Santa  Fe;  while  others  again 
hold  that  the  "seven  cities"  were  located  far  to  the  eastward. 
But  while  these  seven  cities  of  Cibola  never  came  to  light,  the 
fact  remains  that  many  small  villages  existed  in  New  Mexico 
and  along  the  Gila  river,  the  habitations  of  a  race  of  Indians 
who  did  not  live  alone  by  the  chase,  but  combined  with  this  a 
rude  and  primitive  agriculture,  with  some  few  simple  domestic 
arts.  This  distinguished  them  from  the  wild,  Arab-like,  roving 
Indians  of  the  plains,  who  lived  in  movable  tents  made  of 
tanned  buffalo  skins. 

The  Pueblos  also  dug  caves  into  the  sides  of  the  mountains 
at  places,  which  proved  a  means  of  defense  against  their  rov- 
ing neighbors,  and  with  whom  they  came  in  contact  on  the 
great  plains,  the  home  of  the  buffalo.  In  these  caves  and  mud 
villages  they  dwelt  for  ages,  comparatively  secure,  yet  in  dis- 
gusting primitive  filth  and  squalor. 


Historic  Notes.  147 

The  fabulous  stories  told  by  the  Indians  were  only  equaled 
by  the  Spaniard's  contempt  of  truth  in  relating  his  exploits  in 
the  new  world.  The  fables  of  the  Indian  became  a  jack-o'- 
lantern  to  the  chivalrous  Spaniard,  which  he  followed  from 
place  to  place.  Not  to  be  outdone  when  he  found  himself 
duped,  he  often  reported  as  veritable  great  adventures  which 
he  had  undertaken,  in  a  vast  empire  filled  with  magnificent 
cities,  and  inhabited  by  a  powerful,  rich  and  brave  people,  and 
who  at  last  were  subdued  by  his  valor.  It  is  indeed  pleasant 
for  the  honest  searcher  after  historic  truth  to  get  down  from 
the  dizzy  heights  of  story  to  which  Irving  and  Prescott  have 
led  him,  and  to  tread  the  solid  and  stubborn  ground  of  fact 
with  such  a  student  as  R.  A.  Wilson,  and  other  historic  and 
scientific  workers  in  our  own  practical  age. 
NOTE  4. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  soldiers  of  Corouado's  army, 
though  principally  of  high  birth,  were  sadly  disappointed  at 
the  disgusting  spectacle  of  Pueblo  women  living  in  their  un- 
paralleled filth  and  brutality;  for  iu  all  the  expeditions  of  ad- 
venture by  the  conquering  Spaniard  in  New  Spain  the  soldier 
looked  forward  with  lustful  hope,  as  much  to  share  the  captured 
Indian  damsel,  as  to  the  precious  metals  or  brilliant  stones  of 
the  earth.  The  leaders  themselves  shared  and  set  the  example 
of  this  primitive  lustful  luxury.  Don  Pedro  d'Alvarado  had 
under  Cortes,  at  the  fall  of  the  Tlascan  republic,  received  an 
Indian  beauty,  Donna  Louisa,  the  daughter  of  a  chief;  and  five 
other  Indian  girls  were  apportioned  to  other  officers,  says  Pres- 
cott, "after  they  had  been  cleansed  from  the  stains  of  infidelity 
by  the  waters  of  baptism,"  Cortes  himself  lived  in  the  con- 
stant companionship  of  Donna  Marina,  who,  "beautiful  as  a 
goddess,"  served  him  as  mistress  and  interpreter,  from  the  time 
he  captured  her  at  Tobasco,  till  after  the  conquest.  While 
threading  his  way  through  the  everglades  of  Honduras,  and 
contemplating  his  return  to  Spain,  he  gave  this  faithful  friend 
to  Don  Juan  Xamorillo,  a  Castiliaii  knight.  As  soon  as  her 
services  become  no  longer  profitable  she  is  with  trifling  cere- 
mony discarded,  and  her  name  disappears  from  history. 


"148  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

In  connection  with  this  Spanish  brutality  and  hist,  Diaz, 
(vol.  1,  p.  368,)  says:  "After  peace  had  been  restored  to  the  old 
province,  and  the  inhabitants  had  submitted  to  his  majesty,  Cor- 
tes, finding  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  at  present,  determined 
with  the  crown  officers  to  mark  all  the  slaves  with  the  iron. 
...  On  the  night  preceding,  the  finest  of  the  Indian  fe- 
males had  been  secretly  set  apart,  so  that  when  it  came  to  a 
division  among  the  soldiers,  we  find  none  left  but  old  and  ugly 
women.  ...  A  soldier  asked  Cortes  if  the  division  of  gold 
in  Mexico  was  not  a  sufficient  imposition;  and  now  he  was 
going  to  deprive  the  poor  soldiers,  who  had  undergone  so  many 
hardships,  and  suffered  from  innumerable  wounds,  of  this  small 
remuneration,  and  not  even  allow  him  a  pretty  Indian  female 
for  a  companion. 

NOTE  5. 

"II  Turco,"  (tJie  Turk,)  says  Castafieda,  the  historian  of 
Corouado's  march,  "was  an  Indian  slave,  a  native  of  the  coun- 
try on  the  side  of  Florida."  Florida  was  that  undefined  coun- 
try which  extended  from  Canada  to  the  Rio  del  Norte,  and 
included  the  great  basin  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Turk  told 
Coronado  that  in  his  country  there  was  a  river  two  leagues 
broad,  and  that  it  was  beyond  the  province  of  Quivira.  This 
was  undoubtedly  the  Mississippi.  The  story  he  told  to  induce 
the  Spaniard  to  leave  the  Pueblo  country  was  a  mixture  of  fact 
and  fiction;  and  would  impose  on  no  one  but  the  most  credu- 
lous. It  was  this:  "That  in  his  country  there  was  a  river  two 
leagues  broad,  in  which  were  fish  as  large  as  horses;  that  there 
were  canoes  with  twenty  oarsmen  on  each  side  and  which  were 
also  propelled  by  sails;  that  the  lords  of  the  land  were  seated 
in  their  sterns  upon  a  dais,  while  a  large  golden  eagle  was  af- 
fixed to  the  prows;  that  the  sovereign  of  the  land  took  his  siesta 
beneath  a  huge  tree,  to  whose  branches  golden  bells  were  hung, 
which  were  rung  by  the  agitation  of  the  summer  breeze;  that 
the  commonest  vessels  were  of  sculptured  silver,  and  that  the 
bowls,  plates  and  dishes  were  of  gold."  Coronado  says  he  was 
told  that  the  king  of  Quivira  had  a  long  beard,  was  hoary-headed 
and  rich.  In  his  report  to  Meudoga,  on  his  return,  he  says:  ' '  The 


Hixtoric  Notes.  149. 

tale  they  ( the  guides)  told  me  then,  that  Quivira  was  a  city  of 
extraordinary  buildings  and  full  of  gold,  was  false.  In  induc- 
ing me  to  part  with  all  my  army  to  come  to  this  country,  the 
Indians  thought  that  the  country  being  desert  and  without 
water  they  would  conduct  us  into  places  where  our  horses  and 
ourselves  would  die  of  hunger;  that  is  what  the  guides  con- 
fessed. They  told  that  they  had  acted  by  the  advice  of  the 
natives  of  these  countries."  In  all  probability,  "II  Turco" 
was  neither  a  slave  of  the  Pueblos  nor  an  inhabitant  of  the 
Mississippi,  but  one  of  their  wisest  and  bravest  men.  In  him 
we  witness  the  unconquerable  spirit,  that  self  abnegation  and 
abandon,  which  is  so  prominent  in  the  Indian  character,  and 
was  so  many  times  exhibited  in  their  dealings  with  the  Spanish 
conquerers.  This  action  of  the  Turk  was  neither  new  nor 
strange;  it  had  often  been  enacted  before.  The  false  story  he 
told,  the  crafty  duplicity  with  which  he  entered  into  all  the 
minutiae  of  the  plot,  the  religious  zeal  with  which  it  was  un- 
dertaken, the  masterly  skill  with  which  it  was  executed,  the 
frankness  with  which  he  avowed  the  object  and  cause  of  the 
deception  when  the  journey  was  completed,  and  that  firmness 
and  fearlessness  with  which  he  met  death,  portray  one  of  the 
grandest  attributes  of  the  Indian  character.  We  see  the  same 
story  told  and  the  same  acts  performed  in  the  wilds  of  Panama, 
when  the  cacique  Uracca  betrayed  d'Avila;  and  in  the  ever- 
glades of  Florida,  when  "Pedro"  led  De  Soto  after  the  vain 
illusion  of  gold  into  the  pathless  and  almost  impenetrable 
wilderness. 

NOTE  6. 

The  place  where  the  red  pipe  stone  is  found,  or  the  pipe 
stone  from  which  the  pipe  of  peace  is  made,  is  now  definitely 
located  in  the  southwestern  county  of  Minnesota.  This  pipe 
stone  was  an  article  of  commerce  with  the  North  American  In- 
dians from  time  immemorial.  It  was  held  sacred  by  them, 
and  the  place  where  it  was  obtained  was  holy  ground.  Pipes 
of  this  stone  have  been  found  in  graves  which  were  made  by 
men  at  a  time  contemporaneous  with  the  extinct  mastodon. 
(Smithsonian  Report,  1882,  pp.  690-713.) 


.150 


The  Song  of  Kansas. 


Charles  Ran,  in  his  essay  on  "Ancient  Aboriginal  Trade  in 
North  America,"  says:  "The  celebrated  red  pipe  stone,  that 
highly-valued  material,  employed  by  the  Indians  of  past  and 
present  times  in  the  manufacture  of  their  calumets,  occurs  in 
situ  on  the  Coteau  de  Prairies,  an  elevation  extending  between 
the  Missouri  and  the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi.  This.is  the 
classical  ground  of  the  surrounding  tribes,  and  many  legends 
lend  a  romantic  interest  to  that  region.  It  was  here  that  the 
Great  Spirit  assembled  the  various  Indian  nations  and  in- 
structed them  in  the  art  of  making  pipes  of  peace,  as  related  by 
Longfellow  in  his  charming  "Song  of  Hiawatha."  Even  hos- 
tile tribes  met  here  in  peace,  for  this  district  was  by  common 
consent  regarded  as  neutral  ground,  where  strife  and  feuds 
were  suspended,  that  all  might  resort  unmolested  to  the  quarry 
and  supply  themselves  with  the  much-prized  stone.  This 
material,  though  compact,  is  not  hard,  and  therefore  easily 
worked,  and,  moreover,  capable  of  a  high  polish.  It  consists 
chiefly  of  silica  and  alumina,  with  an  admixture  of  iron  which 
produces  the  red  color.  American,  and  probably  also  European 
mineralogists,  call  this  stone  catlinite,  in  honor  of  the  zealous 
ethnologist  and  painter,  Catlin,  who  was  first  to  give  an  accu- 
rate account  of  its  place  of  occurrence,  and  to  relate  the  tradi- 
tions connected  with  the  red  pipe  stone  quarry.  This  locality 
is  the  only  one  in  North  America  where  this  peculiar  stone  is 
found,  and  it  is  doubtful  indeed  whether  in  any  other  place  on 
botli  hemispheres  a  mineral  substance  is  met  which  corresponds 
in  every  respect  to  the  one  in  question." 

NOTE  7. 

"A  wide  and  extensive  commerce  was  carried  on  between  the 
different  nations  of  this  continent,  dating  back  into  prehistoric 
times.  We  find  in  a  single  locality,  at  Naples,  Illinois,  "a 
shell  from  Florida,  obsidian  from  Mexico,  lead  ore  from  Wis- 
consin or  Missouri,  copper  from  Lake  Superior,  and  mica  from 
the  Alleghanies;"  and  this  at  a  time  so  distant  that  all  com- 
putation is  out  of  the  question.  The  Santa  F£  trail  may  be 
ten  thousand  years  old.  Within  historic  times  the  Indians  of 


Historic  Notes.  151 

* 

NV\v  York  have  given  battle  to  their  foes  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  tribes  of  Wisconsin  have  gone  to  war  with 
their  ancient  enemies  at  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in 
New  Mexico,  and  returned  home  before  the  summer  was  over." 
(Charles  Rau,  Smithsonian  Report,  1872.) 

NOTE  8. 

The  Spanish  historian  Gomara  describes  the  buffalo  as  seen 
by  Coronado  thus:  "These  oxen  are  of  the  color  and  bigness 
of  our  bulls,  but  their  horns  are  not  so  great.  They  have  a 
great  bunch  upon  their  fore  shoulders,  and  more  hair  upon 
their  fore  part  than  on  their  hinder  part,  and  it  is  like  wool. 
They  have,  as  it  were,  a  horse  mane  upon  their  back  bone,  and 
much  hair  and  very  long  from  the  knees  downward.  They 
have  great  tufts  of  hair  hanging  down  from  their  foreheads, 
and  it  seemetli  they  have  beards,  because  of  the  great  store  of 
hair  hanging  down  at  their  chins  and  throats.  The  males  have 
very  long  tails,  and  a  great  knob  or  flock  at  the  end,  so  that 
in  some  respects  they  resemble  lions,  and  in  some  others  the 
camel.  They  push  with  their  horns,  they  run,  they  overtake 
and  kill  a  horse  when  they  are  in  their  rage  and  anger. 
Finally,  it  is  a  fierce  beast  of  countenance  and  form  of  body. 
The  horses  fled  from  them,  either  because  of  their  defonned 
>liai>«',  or  else  because  they  had  never  seen  them.  Their  mas- 
ters have  no  other  riches  nor  substance;  of  them  they  eat,  they 
drink,  they  apparel,  they  shoe  themselves;  and  of  their  hides 
they  make  many  things,  as  houses,  shoes,  apparel  and  ropes; 
of  their  bones  they  make  bodkins;  of  their  sinews  and  hair, 
thread;  of  their  horns,  maws  and  bladders,  vessels;  of  their 
dung,  fire;  of  their  calf  skins,  buckets,  wherein  they  draw  and 
keep  water.  To  be  short,  they  make  so  many  things  of  them 
as  they  have  need  of,  or  as  may  suffice  in  the  use  of  this  life." 

As  to  the  antiquity  of  the  buffalo,  we  find  him  at  home  with 
the  extinct  mastodon  of  the  age  of  the  mound  builders,  in  Da- 
kota and  Wisconsin,  and  his  teeth  have  been  found  in  the  drift 
of  Maine.  ( Smithsonian  Rep.  1871,  p.  394;  Lapham's  Antiq.  of 
Wis.,  and  Amer.  Naturalist,  vol.  1,  p.  268,  note.)  But  it  must 


152  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

not  be  forgotten,  in  this  connection,  that  Cabega  was  the  first 
to  describe  the  buffalo. 

NOTE  9. 

"The  guides  conducted  the  general  to  Quivira  in  forty-eight 
days,  for  they  had  traveled  too  much  in  the  direction  of  Florida. 
At  Quivira  they  found  neither  gold  nor  silver,  and  learning 
from  the  Turk  that  he  had,  at  the  instance  of  the  people  of 
Cicuye",  purposely  decoyed  the  army  far  into  the  plains,  to  kill 
the  horses  and  thus  make  the  men  helpless  and  fall  an  easy 
prey  to  the  natives,  and  that  all  he  had  said  about  the  great 
quantity  of  silver  and  gold  to  be  found  there  was  false,  they 
strangled  him, '  (CastaQeda's  Relations  — Teruaux  Compans.) 

NOTE  10. 

This  has  reference  to  the  Mandan  Indians,  a  peculiar  race, 
who  at  the  time  of  Coronado's  march  must  have  inhabited  the 
region  of  country  at  or  near  the  red  pipe  stone  quarries.  ( See 
note  6,  ante.)  Hale,  speaking  of  this  race,  says:  "They  had 
a  decided  superiority  over  any  of  the  other  western  tribes  in 
the  arts  of  domestic  life.  Their  pottery  was  quite  convenient, 
and  they  relied  without  fear  upon  their  crops  of  corn,  squashes 
and  pumpkins.  They  did  not  make  war  unless  attacked,  but 
fortified  their  positions  with  skill  and  care.  They  presented  an 
additional  peculiarity  in  the  frequent  whiteness  of  their  skin 
and  light  color  of  their  hair.  Many  of  them  who  are  full- 
blooded  have  beautiful  white  complexions.  The  differences  in 
the  color  of  hair  are  as  great  as  in  complexions;  for  in  a  num- 
erous group  of  these  people,  and  more  particularly  among  the 
females,  who  never  take  pains  to  change  its  natural  color  as  the 
men  often  do,  there  may  be  seen  every  shade  of  color  of  hair, 
with  the  exception  of  red  or  auburn,  which  is  not  to  be  found; 
and  it  is  a  strange  peculiarity  that  there  are  very  many  natives 
of  both  sexes,  and  of  every  age,  from  infancy  to  manhood  and  old 
age,  with  hair  of  a  bright  silvery  gray,  and  in  some  instances 
almost  perfectly  white."  (Kale's  "Kansas  and  Nebraska." 
pp.  30-40.)  It  was  undoubtedly  this  Mandan  race  that  Turco 
had  in  his  mind  when  he  told  Coronado  that  "the  king  of 


IHxtoric  Notes.  153 

Quivira  had  long  beard,  was  hoary-headed  and  rich."  He  cer- 
taiuly  led  Coronado  in  the  direction  of  the  habitation  of  the 
Mandan  people.  Mr.  Catlin.  who  spent  much  time  with  them, 
believes  they  descended  from  the  Madoc  colony  of  Welch,  and 
gives  many  cogent  reasons  therefor.  (Hale's  "Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska.'' pp.  31,  32.)  They  migrated  at  an  early  day,  descended 
the  Ohio  river,  and  ascended  the  Missouri,  and  perished  as  a 
race  near  its  head  waters,  within  the  last  thirty  years. 

Robert  Son  they  founded  his  poem  "Madoc''  on  the  story  of 
this  Welch  colony,  which  came  to  America  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, and  which  I  give  from  Hakluyt's  "Voyage,"  as  follows: 
"Madoc.  another  of  Owen  Guiuneth's  sons,  left  the  land  in 
contention  between  his  brethren,  and  prepared  certain  ships 
with  men  and  amunition  and  sought  adventures  by  sea,  sailing 
west  and  leaving  the  coast  of  Ireland  so  far  south  that  he  came 
to  land  unknown,  where  he  saw  many  strange  things.  This 
land  must  needs  be  part  of  that  country  of  which  the  Spaniards 
affirm  themselves  to  be  the  first  finders  since  Honna's  time.  . 
Of  the  voyage  and  return  of  Madoc  there  be  many  fables 
formed,  as  the  common  people  do  use  in  distance  of  place  and 
length  of  time,  rather  to  augment  than  diminish;  but  sure  it  is 
that  there  Jie  was.  And  after  he  had  returned  home  and  de- 
clared the  pleasant  and  fruitful  countries  that  he  had  seen 
without  inhabitants,  and  on  the  contrary,  part  for  what  wild 
and  barren  ground  his  brothers  and  nephews  did  murther  one 
another,  he  prepared  a  number  of  ships,  and  got  with  him  such 
men  and  women  as  were  desirous  to  live  in  quietness,  and  tak- 
ing leave  of  his  friends,  took  his  journey  northward  again. 
Therefore  it  is  to  be  presupposed  that  he  and  his  people  inhab- 
ited part  of  those  countries.  .  .  .  But  because  this  people 
were  not  many  they  followed  the  manners  of  the  land  and 
used  the  language  they  found  there.  This  Madoc  arriving  in 
that  western  country,  into  which  he  came  in  the  year  1170,  left 
most  of  his  people  there  and  returning  back  for  more  of  his 
own  nation,  acquaintances  and  friends  to  inhabit  that  fair  and 
large  country,  went  thither  again  with  ten  sails,  as  I  find  noted 
by  Gutyn  Owen."  Thus  says  Hakluyt,  who  wrote  in  the 


154  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

time  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  That  this  country  was  visited  by  the 
maritime  adventurers  of  Europe,  Africa  and  Asia  long  before 
Columbus  and  long  before  the  Christian  era,  there  seems  rea-on 
no  longer  to  dispute.  That  the  civilization  of  Central  America, 
not  as  exhibited  by  the  inhabitants  at  the  time  of  the  conquest, 
but  as  portrayed  in  its  vast  ruins,  its  obelisks,  paintings,  Tiier- 
oglyphic  tablets  and  plinths,  its  sepulchers,  crosses,  temples 
and  emblems,  points  to  a  Fhrenician  origin,  is  rendered  almost 
certain.  ( Wilson's  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico.)  If  then 
this  be  true,  the  story  of  Madoc  certainly  comes  within  historic 
probability;  and  the  physical  and  mental  peculiarities  of  the 
Maudau  people,  as  exhibited  in  their  domestic  and  warlike 
habits,  are  thus  easily  accounted  for. 


NOTE  11. 

That  Coronado  passed  easterly  through  Kansas,  is  estal>- 
lished  beyond  controversy.  The  problem  is,  to  define  the  route 
traveled  with  probable  certainty.  This  can  only  be  done  from 
what  Coronado  and  his  historians  tell  us.  Coronado  describes 
Quivira,  in  his  report  to  the  viceroy,  Mendoga,  as  follows: 

"The  province  of  Quivira  is  930  leagues  ( 3,240  miles)  from 
(the  city  of)  Mexico.  The  place  I  have  reached  is  the  fortieth 
degree  of  latitude.  The  earth  is  the  best  possible  for  all  kinds 
of  productions  of  Spain,  for  while  it  is  very  strong  and  black, 
it  is  very  well  watered  by  brooks,  springs  and  rivers.  I  found 
linines  like  those  of  Spain,  some  of  which  were  black;  also 
some  excellent  grapes  and  mulberries.  I  sojourned  twenty-five 
days  in  the  province  of  Quivira,  as  much  to  thoroughly  explore 
the  country  as  to  see  if  I  could  not  find  some  further  occasion 
to  serve  your  majesty,  for  the  guides  whom  I  brought  with  me 
have  spoken  of  provinces  situated  still  further  on.  That  which 
I  have  been  able  to  learn  is,  that  in  all  this  country  one  can  find 
neither  gold  nor  any  other  metal.  They  spoke  to  me  of  small 
villages,  whose  inhabitants  for  the  most  part  do  not  cultivate 
the  soil.  They  have  huts  of  hides  and  willows,  and  chantrc 
their  places  of  abode  with  the  vaches(  buff  aloes)."  (Coronado's 


c  Notes.  155 


Relations  —  Ternaux  Compans;  Smithsonian  Report,  1869; 
p.  338,  note.) 

Jaramillo,  a  companion  of  the  expedition,  says:  "This  coun- 
try has  a  superb  appearance,  and  such  that  I  have  not  seen 
better  in  all  Spain;  neither  in  Italy  nor  France,  nor  in  any 
other  country  where  I  have  been  in  the  service  of  your  majesty. 
It  is  not  a  country  of  mountains;  there  are  only  some  hills, 
some  plains,  and  some  streams  of  very  fine  water.  It  satisfied 
me  completely.  I  presume  that  it  is  very  fertile,  and  favorable 
for  the  cultivation  of  all  kinds  of  fruits." 

And  Castafieda,  the  historian  of  Quivira,  says:  "It  is  in  this 
country  that  the  Espiritu  Sancto  (Mississippi  river),  which 
Don  Fernando  de  Soto  discovered  in  Florida,  takes  its  source." 

In  this  connection  it  must  be  remembered  that  "Florida" 
embraced  the  whole  Mississippi  basin,  and  that  in  Coronado's 
march  he  was  led  by  the  guides  "too  far  in  the  direction  of 
Florida." 

To  determine  the  course  of  Coronado's  march,  its  direction 
and  distance,  consult  Simpson's  Smithsonian  Report,  1871.  In 
this  connection  I  quote  the  language  of  J.  H.  Simpson,  Smith- 
sonian Report,  1869,  page  337.  After  canvassing  the  whole 
matter,  he  says:  "No;  1  am  of  the  opinion  that  Coronado  and 
his  army  marched  just  as  Castafteda,  Jaramillo  and  Coronado 
have  reported;  that  is,  generally  in  a  northeast  direction,  over 
extensive  plains,  through  countless  herds  of  buffalo  and  prairie 
dog  villages,  and  at  length,  after  getting  in  a  manner  lost,  and 
finding,  as  the  chronicler  says,  they  had  gone  "too  far  towards 
Florida,"  that  is,  to  the  eastward,  and  had  traveled  from  Tig- 
uex  for  thirty-seven  days,  or  a  distance  of  between  700  and  800 
miles,  their  provisions  failing  them,  the  main  body  turned  back 
to  Tiguex,  and  Coronado  with  thirty-six  picked  men  continued 
his  explorations  northwardly  to  the  fortieth  degree  of  latitude, 
where  he  reached  a  province  which  the  Indians  called  Quivira." 

At  what  point  in  Kansas  did  Coronado  send  his  army  back  ? 
It  can  only  be  approximated.  The  army  returned  "by  the 
arrow,"  that  is,  in  nearly  a  straight  line.  They  took  some  In- 
dian guides,  called  "Teyaus,"  a  nomadic  nation,  perhaps  Kan- 


156  The  Song  of  K 


sas  Indians,  "who  knew  the  country  perfectly  well,"  and 
"every  morning  they  watched  to  note  where  the  sun  rose,  and 
directed  their  way  by  shooting  an  arrow  in  advance,  and  then 
before  reaching  this  arrow  they  discharged  another.  In  this 
way  they  marked  the  whole  of  their  route  to  the  spot  where 
water  was  to  be  found  and  where  they  encamped."  On  this 
route  they  passed  through  the  salt  marshes  on  the  Canadian. 
and  this  is  one  point  we  fix;  the  other  known  point  is  about 
130  miles  east  of  Pecos,  on  the  Colorado,  where  Fort  Bascom 
is  now  laid  down  on  the  map.  To  reach  this  point  on  the  out- 
ward journey  the  army  traveled,  says  the  historian,  250  leagues, 
or  850  miles,  from  Tiguex,  now  Socorro,  New  Mexico.  As  the 
Indian  guides  took  Coronado's  army  into  the  wilderness  to  kill 
it,  they  most  probably  followed  the  line  indicated  by  Simpson, 
which  would  cover  about  800  miles.  From  this  point  at  which 
the  army  returned,  Corouado  took  thirty  horsemen  and  six  foot 
soldiers,  and  in  eleven  days  reached  Quivira.  On  his  route 
he  crossed  a  large  river,  which  they  named  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul.  After  he  had  reached  Quivira,  the  guides  told  him 
of  a  still  larger  river,  the  "Espiritu  Saucto"  (Mississippi), 
further  on  to  the  east.  Quivira  was  therefore  in  northeast  cm 
Kansas.  Coronado  remained  in  Quivira  twenty-five  days,  and 
on  his  return,  says  the  historian,  CastaQedo:  "Notwithstanding 
he  had  good  guides,  and  was  not  encumbered  with  baggage, 
Coronado  was  forty  days  in  making  the  journey  from  Quivira." 
This  was  at  least  1,000  miles  from  Socorro.  In  fact,  then-  is 
no  testimony  to  show  a  less  number  of  miles  traveled  than  is 
here  indicated. 

NOTE  13. 

"The  blue-eyed  maid  Tritonian  Pallas,  fierce, 
Rousing  the  .war  field's  tumult,  unsulxlued, 
Leader  of  armies,  awful,  whose  delight 
The  shout  of  battle  and  the  shock  of  war." 

—Hesiod. 
NOTE  13. 

The  advent  of  Columbia,  the  genius  of  American  civiliza- 
tion, the  goddess  who  is  supposed  to  preside  over  the  destinies 


Historic  Notes.  157 

of  our  Republic,  has  not  heretofore  been  honored  with  a  gene- 
alogy, nor  has  her  advent  been  sung.  The  author  has  followed 
Ilesiod  for  her  maternal  ancestry,  and  has  connected  her  with 
the  Grecian  hierarchy.  (See  llesiod's  Theogony.) 

NOTE  14. 

"Kansas  the  name;  child  of  the  wind."  Andreas,  in  his 
History  of  Kansas,  says:  "Kansas  means  smoky,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  tribe."  He  copied  from  writers  Holloway  and 
others,  who  must  have  known  little  or  nothing  of  the  history  or 
language  of  these  Indians,  or  cognate  tribes.  Perhaps  the 
best  authority  in  the  world  in  regard  to  the  meaning  of  the 
word  Kansas  is  the  Rev.  J.  Owen  Dorsey,  of  the  bureau  of 
ethnology  in  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  at  Washington.  He  is 
certainly  very  high  authority,  from  his  long  association  with  and 
his  extensive  studies  in  the  language  and  history  of  the  Siouau 
tribes.  He  says:  "While  the  exact  meaning  of  Kansas  is 
unknown  to  me,  I  am  sure  it  does  not  mean  'smoky,  in  the 
language  of  the  tribe.'  That  would  be  cudjujii',  filled  with 
smoke;  or  else,  cudje  e"gu,  smoke-like.  .  .  .  The  old  spell- 
ing of  Long  and  others,  Kouza,  is  nearer  to  the  original  name 
than  is  our  Kansas.  It  ( Konza)  is  almost  the  pronunciation  of 
Kan-ze,  the  tribal  name.  Omaha  and  Quapaw  are  names  of 
comparatively  modern  origin,  having  been  given  when  the 
people  separated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  river.  They  are 
correlatives  (up-stream  people  and  down-stream  people) — geo- 
graphical names.  But  Kan-ze,  Pafika  and  Wagac.e  (or  Kansas). 
Ponka  and  Osage  are  very  ancient  names,  whose  true  meanings 
are  not  revealed  outside  of  the  secret  society  of  the  tribes. 
These  are  mythical  or  sacred  names.  Ponka  is  associated  with 
the  red  cedar,  and  Kansas  with  the  wind.  .  .  .  The  Omaha 
Xan-ze  gens  (or  clan)  has  wind  names  for  its  males  and  females. 
The  corresponding  Kansas  gens  is  the  Kan-ze,  part  of  whom  are 
wind  people,  or  south-wind  people.  The  corresponding  Osage 
gens  has  several  names,  Kau-se,  etc.,  meaning  south-wind  peo- 
ple." (Letter  to  author,  dated  July  20,  1886.)  The  same  writer, 
under  date  of  August  12,  1886,  says:  "I  maintain  the  following: 


158  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

1.  Kansas  does  not  mean,  nor  has  it  meant,  in  the  language  of 
the  Kansas  or  Kaw  tribe,  nor  in  that  of  any  cognate  tribe,  as 
far  as  I  have  ascertained,  smoky.  2.  Kansas,  in  one  form  or 
another,  is  at  present —  and  this  must  have  been  the  case  for 
hundreds  of  years — applied  in  the  Omaha,  Kansas  and  Osage 
tribes  to  gentes  or  parts  of  which  are  said  to  be  wind  people. 
3.  Kan-se,  Kan-ze,  Man-ze  should  not  be  confounded  with  An- 
sage,  K'an-sage,  etc.  (swift).  The  rule  is,  that  difference  of 
sound  makes  difference  of  meaning." 

NOTE  15. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  1854,  President  Pierce  signed  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill. 

NOTE  16. 

The  doctrine  or  principle  upon  which  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy was  founded,  at  the  time  of  secession,  is,  that  slarei'y 
is  right;  that  it  is  a  great  physical,  philosophical  and  moral 
truth,  and  especially  the  natural  and  normal  condition  of  the 
negro.  Shortly  after  the  government  of  the  Confederate  States 
of  America  was  organized,  its  vice  president,  A.  H.  Stevens,  in 
a  speech  at  Savannah,  said:  "The  new  constitution  has  put  to 
rest  forever  all  the  agitating  questions  relating  to  our  peculiar 
institutions — African  slavery  as  it  exists  among  us— the  proper 
status  of  the  negro  in  our  form  of  civilization.  This  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  late  rupture  and  present  revolution. 
Jefferson,  in  his  forecast,  had  anticipated  this  as  the  rock  upon 
which  the  old  Union  would  split.  .  .  .  The  prevailing  ideas 
entertained  by  him  and  most  of  the  leading  statesmen,  at  the 
time  of  the  formation  of  the  old  constitution  were,  that  the  en- 
slavement of  the  African  was  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  na- 
ture; that  it  was  wrong  in  principle,  socially,  morally  and 
politically.  Our  new  government  is  founded  upon  exactly  the 
apposite  idea;  its  foundations  are  laid,  its  comer  stone  rests, 
upon  the  great  truth,  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to  the  \\hite 
man;  that  slavery,  subordination  to  the  superior  race,  is  his 
natural  and  normal  condition.  This,  our  new  government,  is 


Histwic  Notes.  159 

the  first  in  the  world  based  upon  this  great  physical,  philo- 
sophical and  moral  truth."  (Am.  Cy.,  1861,  p.  128.) 

Judge  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  the  eminent  jurist,  says:  "My  faith 
and  my  reason  both  assure  me  that  the  infallible  (Jod  proceeded 
on  good  grounds  when  he  authorized  slavery  in  Judea."  (N.  A. 
Review,  August,  1881.) 

I  quote  the  above  to  show  at  this  time  what  the  younger 
generation  has  perhaps  overlooked  in  its  study  of  the  civil  war. 
The  above  doctrine  of  Alexander  H.  Stevens  was  the  full-fledged 
political  faith  of  the  Southrons  who  invaded  Kansas  in  1854-6. 
But  this  great  "moral  truth"  of  the  South  could  not  long  en- 
dure under  the  civilization  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  in  his  Cooper  Institute  speech,  February 
27,  1860,  speaking  of  the  demands  of  the  South,  said:  "Hold- 
ing, as  they  do,  that  slavery  is  morally  right  and  socially  ele- 
vating, they  cannot  cease  to  demand  a  full  national  recognition 
of  it  as  a  legal  right  and  a  social  blessing.  Xor  can  we  justi- 
fiably withhold  this  on  any  ground  save  our  conviction  that 
slavery  is  wrong.  If  slavery  is  right,  all  words,  acts,  laws  and 
constitutions  against  it  are  themselves  wrong,  and  should  be 
silenced  and  swept  away.  If  it  is  right,  we  cannot  justly  ob- 
ject to  its  nationality,  its  universality;  if  it  is  wrong,  they  can- 
not justly  insist  upon  its  extension,  its  enlargement.  All  they 
ask  we  could  readily  grant,  if  we  thought  slavery  right;  all  we 
ask  they  could  readily  grant,  if  they  thought  it  wrong.  Their 
thinking  it  right,  and  our  thinking  it  wrong,  is  the  precise  fact 
upon  which  depends  the  whole  controversy." 

This  controversy  was  at  last  ended  by  the  civil  war,  and  the 
"precise  fact"  whether  slavery  was  right  or  wrong  was  decided 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  under  the  flag  of  the  Union.  In 
this  connection  we  may  remark  of  Truth,  in  passing,  that 
"the  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers." 

NOTE  17. 

As  soon  as  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act  was  signed  and  made 
known,  the  inhabitants  of  Missouri  took  possession  of  Kansas, 
and  determined  to  make  slavery  the  corner  stone  of  her  politr 


160  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

ical  edifice.  To  this  end  they  came  into  Leavenworth  county, 
passed  the  following  resolutions,  and  returned  to  their  homes: 
"That  we  will  afford  protection  to  no  Abolitionist  as  a  settler 
of  this  Territory.  That  we  recognize  the  institution  of  slavery 
as  already  existing  in  this  Territory,  and  advise  slaveholders 
to  introduce  their  property  as  early  as  possible."  (Kansas  Af- 
fairs, p.  2.)  These  resolutions  certainly  foreshadowed  the  Dred- 
Seott  decision,  and  preceded  it  three  years. 

In  this  connection  Dr.  Gihon,  secretary  to  Governor  Geary, 
says:  "It  ( slavery)  resolved,  as  a  matter  of  safety  and  interest, 
not  only  to  disperse  those  (Free-State  immigrants)  who  had  al- 
ready entered  the  Territory,  but  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  ad- 
mission of  all  others  of  similar  character.  To  this  end  meetings 
were  held  in  various  parts  of  the  Territory  and  in  the  border 
towns  of  Missouri,  at  which  speeches  were  made  and  resolu- 
tions adopted  of  the  most  incendiary  and  inflammatory  de- 
scription. At  one  of  these  meetings,  held  at  Westport,  Mo.,  in 
July,  1854,  an  association  was  formed,  and  adopted  the  follow- 
ing resolutions: 

"  'Resolved,  That  this  association  will,  whenever  called  upon 
by  any  of  the  citizens  of  Kansas  Territory,  hold  itself  in  readi- 
ness together  to  assist  to  remove  any  and  all  emigrants  who  go 
there  under  the  auspices  of  the  Northern  Emigrant  Aid  Society. 

"  'Revolted,  That  we  recommend  to  the  citizens  of  other  coun- 
ties, particularly  those  bordering  on  the  Kansas  territory,  to 
adopt  regulations  similar  to  those  of  this  association,  and  to  in- 
dicate their  readiness  to  operate  in  the  objects  of  this  resolu- 
tion.'" (Gihon's  History  of  Kansas,  p.  29.) 

NOTE  18. 

"Ruffian "was  a  word  applied  by  the  ruffian  to  himself. 
"Let  it  not  be  understood  that  this  term  'Border  Ruffian'  is 
considered  by  those  to  whom  it  is  applied  as  one  of  reproach. 
On  the  contrary,  they  boast  of  it,  are  proud  of  it,  and  do  all  in 
their  power  to  merit  it,  and  very  many  of  them  have  been  emi- 
nently successful.  In  their  manners  they  assume  the  character 
of  the  ruffian,  in  their  dress  they  exhibit  the  appearance  of  the 
ruffian,  and  in  their  conversation  they  labor  to  convey  the  in- 
ference that  they  are  indeed  ruffians. 


Historic  Notes.  161 

"On  the  levee  at  Kansas  City  stood  a  sort  of  omnibus,  or 
wagon,  used  to  convey  passengers  to  and  from  Westport,  upon 
either  side  of  which  was  painted,  in  flaming  capitals,  the  words, 
'BORDER  RUFFIAX.' 

"Imagine  a  man  standing,  in  long  boots  covered  with  dust 
and  mud,  drawn  over  his  trousers,  the  latter  made  of  coarse, 
fancy-colored  cloth,  well  soiled;  the  handle  of  a  large  bowie 
knife  projecting  from  one  or  both  boot  tops;  a  leathern  belt 
buckled  around  his  waist,  on  each  side  of  which  is  fastened  a 
large  revolver;  a  red  or  blue  shirt,  with  a  heart,  anchor,  eagle, 
or  some  other  favorite  device,  braided  on  the  breast  and  back, 
over  which  is  swung  a  rifle  or  carbine,  a  sword  dangling  by  his 
side;  an  old  slouched  hat,  with  a  cockade  or  brass  star  on  the 
front  or  side,  and  a  chicken,  goose  or  turkey  feather  sticking 
in  the  top;  hair,  uncut  and  uncombed,  covering  his  neck  and 
shoulders;  an  unshaved  face  and  unwashed  hands  —  imagine 
such  a  specimen  of  humanity,  who  can  swear  any  given  num- 
ber of  oaths  in  any  specified  time;  drink  any  quantity  of  bad 
whisky  without  getting  drunk,  and  boast  of  having  stolen  a 
half  dozen  horses,  and  killed  one  or  more  Abolitionists,  and  you 
will  have  a  pretty  fair  conception  of  a  border  ruffian  as  he  ap- 
pears in  Missouri  and  in  Kansas."  (Gihon,  pp.  106,  107.) 

NOTE  19. 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  lower  house  of  Congress  to 
investigate  the  Kansas  affairs,  in  1855-56,  on  which  committee 
was  John  Sherman,  of  Ohio,  speaking  of  the  secret  organiza- 
tions to  establish  slavery  in  Kansas,  say:  "It  was  known  by 
different  names,  such  as  'Social  Band,'  'Friends'  Society,' 
'Blue  Lodge,'  'The  Sons  of  the  South.'  Its  members  were 
bound  together  by  secret  oaths,  and  they  had  passwords,  signs 
and  grips  by  which  they  were  known  to  each  other.  It  em- 
braced great  numbers  of  citizens  of  Missouri,  and  was  ex- 
tended into  the  slave  States  and  into  the  Territory.  Its  avowed 
purpose  was  not  only  to  extend  slavery  into  Kansas,  but  also 
into  other  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  to  form  a  union 
of  all  the  friends  of  the  institution.  Its  plan  of  operating 


162  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

was  to  organize  and  send  men  to  tote  at  the  elections  in  the 
Territory,  to  collect  money  to  pay  their  expenses,  and,  if  neces- 
sary, to  protect  them  in  voting.  This  dangerous  society  was 
controlled  by  men  who  avowed  their  purpose  to  extend  slavery 
into  the  Territory  at  all  hazards,  and  was  altogether  the  most 
effective  instrument  in  organizing  the  subsequent  armed  inva- 
sions and  forays.  In  its  lodges  in  Missouri  the  affairs  of  Kan- 
sas were  discussed;  the  force  necessary  to  control  the  elections 
was  divided  into  bands,  and  leaders  selected;  means  were  col- 
lected and  signs  and  badges  were  agreed  upon."  (Kansas  Af- 
fairs, p.  3.)  November  16,  1854,  the  St.  Louis  Democrat  says; 
"Senator  Atehison  is  at  present  engaged  in  the  upper  country 
banding  a  secret  society  of  five  thousand  persons.  These,  ac- 
cording to  rumor,  are  pledged  to  move  into  Kansas  on  the  day 
of  the  first  election  to  vote  slavery  into  that  Territory."  ( Wild- 
er's  Annals.) 

NOTE  20. 

At  the  election  held  March  30,  1855,  for  members  of  the  first 
territorial  Legislature,  the  Missourians  came  over  in  hordes,  and 
took  control  of  nearly  all  the  election  precincts.  The  report 
on  Kansas  affairs  says:  "They  said  if  the  judges  appointed  by 
the  Governor  did  not  receive  their  votes  they  would  choose 
other  judges.  Some  of  them  voted  several  times,  changing 
their  hats  or  coats  and  coming  up  to  the  window  again.  Some 
of  them  claimed  a  right  to  vote  under  the  organic  act,  from  the 
fact  that  their  mere  presence  in  the  Territory  constituted  them 
residents,  though  they  were  from  Missouri  and  had  their  homes 
in  Missouri.  Others  said  they  had  a  right  to  vote  because 
Kansas  belonged  to  Missouri,  and  the  people  from  the  East  had 
no  right  to  settle  in  the  Territory  and  vote  there.  They  said 
they  came  to  the  Territory  to  elect  a  Legislature  to  suit  them- 
selves, as  the  people  of  the  Territory  and  persons  from  the  East 
and  North  wanted  to  elect  a  Legislature  that  would  not  suit 
them.  Col.  Young  said  he  wanted  citizens  to  vote  in  order  to 
give  the  election  some  show  of  fairness.  The  Missourians  said 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  if  the  citizens  did  not  interfere 
with  their  voting;  but  they  were  determined  to  vote;  peaceably 


Historic  Notes.  163 

if  they  could,  but  vote  anyhow.  They  said  each  one  of  them 
was  prepared  for  eight  rounds  without  loading,  and  would  go 
to  the  ninth  round  with  the  butcher  knife."  (Kansas  Affairs, 
p.  12.)  The  Legislature  was  elected  in  this  clandestine  manner 
which  gave  Kansas  the  "Bogus  Laws"  of  1855.  This  consum- 
mation brought  on  the  Kansas  war,  which  at  last  ended  in  the 
triumph  of  freedom. 

NOTE  21. 

An  eminent  author  and  lady  of  Kansas  writes  as  follows: 
"The  following  from  the  Lea  veil  worth  Herald  will  suffice 
to  show  the  character  of  the  leaders  of  the  Pro-Slavery  party 
and  their  institution,  regarding  the  manner  in  which  Kansas 
was  to  be  made  a  slave  State.  The  plan  of  operation  was  laid 
down  in  an  address  to  a  crowd  at  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  by  String- 
fellow:  'I  tell  you  to  mark  every  scoundrel  among  you  that  is 
the  least  tainted  with  free-soilism  or  abolitionism,  and  ex- 
terminate him.  Neither  give  nor  take  quarter  from  the  d — d 
rascals.  To  those  having  qualms  of  conscience  as  to  violating 
laws,  State  or  National,  the  time  has  come  when  such  imposi- 
tions must  be  disregarded,  as  your  lives  and  property  are  in 
danger;  and  I  advise  you,  one  and  all,  to  enter  every  election 
district  in  Kansas,  in  defiance  of  Reeder  and  his  vile  myr- 
midons, and  vote  at  the  point  of  the  bowie  knife  and  revolver. 
What  right  has  Governor  Reeder  to  rule  Missouriaus  in  Kan- 
sas? His  proclamation  and  prescribed  oath  must  be  disre- 
garded. It  is  your  interest  to  do  so.  Mind  that  slavery  is 
established  where  it  is  not  prohibited.'"  (Mrs.  Robinson's 
"Kansas,"  pp.  14-16.) 

This,  again,  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Dred-Scott  decision,  and 
preceded  it  more  than  a  year.  Chief  Justice  Taney  was  at  this 
time  seventy-eight  years  old,  and  was  enjoying  a  ripe  old 
dotage.  Doubtless  Striugfellow's  speech  was  taken  by  him  to 
be  good  law. 

"July  20,  1854,  a  meeting  in  western  Missouri  resolves  to 
remove  any  and  all  emigrants  who  go  to  Kansas  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Northern  emigrant  aid  societies." 


164  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

"October  4,  1854,  E.  D.  Ladd  writes  to  the  Milwaukee  Sen- 
tinel that  within  a  few  days  the  Missourians  have  taken  down 
and  moved  the  tents  of  our  squatters,  and  burned  the  cabins 
while  the  owners  were  absent  at  work."  ( Wilder's  Annals.) 

NOTE  22. 

At  a  public  indignation  meeting  held  in  Leavenworth  May 
3d,  1855,  it  was,  among  other  things  — 

"Resolved,  To  the  peculiar  friends  of  northern  fanatics  we 
say,  this  is  not  your  country;  go  home  and  vent  your  treason 
where  you  will  find  your  sympathy. 

"Resolved,  That  we  invite  the  inhabitants  of  every  State, 
north,  south,  east  aud  west,  to  come  among  us  and  cultivate 
the  beautiful  prairie  lands  of  our  Territory,  but  leave  behind 
you  the  fanaticism  of  the  higher  laic  and  all  kindred  doctrines. 
Come  only  to  maintain  the  laws  as  they  exist,  and  not  preach 
your  higher  duties  of  setting  them  at  naught;  for  we  warn  you 
in  advance  that  our  institutions  are  sacred  to  us  and  must  and 
shall  be  respected. 

"Resolved,  That  the  institution  of  slavery  is  known  and  rec- 
ognized in  this  Territory;  that  we  repel  the  doctrine  that  it  is  a 
moral  and  political  evil,  and  we  hurl  back  with  scorn  upon  its 
slanderous  authors  the  charge  of  inhumanity;  and  we  warn  all 
persons  not  to  come  to  our  own  peaceful  firesides  to  slander  us 
and  sow  seeds  of  discord  between  the  master  and  the  servant; 
for  much  as  we  may  deprecate  the  necessity  to  which  we  may 
be  driven,  we  cannot  be  responsible  for  the  consequences. 

"Resolved,  That  a  vigilance  committee  consisting  of  thirty 
members  shall  now  be  appointed,  who  shall  observe  and  report 
all  such  persons  as  shall  openly  act  in  violation  of  late  and 
order,  and  by  the  expression  of  abolition  sentiments  produce 
disturbance  to  the  quiet  of  the  citizens  or  danger  of  their  do- 
mestic relations;  and  all  such  persons  so  offending  shall  l» 
fied  and  made  to  leave  the  Territory."  (Kansas  Affairs,  pp.  967 
968. 

The  following  is  a  duplicate  of  the  notice  served  on  William 
Phillips,  a  lawyer  of  Leavenworth  city,  a  few  days  prior  to  the 
above  meeting,  pursuant  to  resolutions  adopted: 

LEAVEXWOKTII  CITY,  April  30,  1855. 

SIB — At  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Leavcmvorth  and  vi- 
cinity, we,  the  undersigned,  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
inform  you  that  they  have  unanimously  determined  that  you 


Historic  .Notes.  165 

must  leave  this  Territory  by  two  o'clock  of  Thursday  next. 
Take  due  notice  thereof,  and  act  accordingly. 

To  WILLIAM  PHILLIPS."  [Signed  by  ten.] 

(Kansas  Affairs,  p.  966.) 

NOTE  23. 

The  Squatter  Sovereign,  published  at  Atchison,  by  Dr.  John 
II.  Stringfellow,  says:  "We  can  tell  the  impertinent  scoundrels 
of  the  Tribune  that  they  may  exhaust  an  ocean  of  ink,  their 
emigrant  aid  societies  spend  their  millions  and  billions,  their 
representatives  in  congress  spout  their  heretical  theories  till 
doomsday,  and  his  excellency,  Franklin  Pierce,  appoint  Aboli- 
tionist after  Free-Soiler  as  our  Governor,  yet  we  mil  continue  to 
lynch  and  hang,  to  tar  and  feather  and  drown,  every  white- 
livered  Abolitionist  who  dares  to  pollute  our  soil." 

Hon.  S.  N.  Wood,  who  had  moved  into  Kansas  as  early  as 
July  4,  1854,  gives  us  the  definition  of  a  "white-livered  Aboli- 
tionist," in  the  language  of  the  Missouri  squatter.  He  says: 
"The  Pro-Slavery  men  from  Missouri  had  met  in  Kansas,  and 
adopted  a  code  of  squatter  laws,  and  the  whole  Territory  seemed 
staked  into  claims.  They  had  a  register  of  claims,  with  an 
office  at  Westport,  Mo.  One  law  of  this  remarkable  code  pro- 
vided that  Nebraska  was  for  the  North  and  Kansas  for  the 
South.  One  provision  was,  that  every  white-livered  Aboli- 
tionist who  dared  to  set  foot  in  Kansas  should  be  hung,  and 
that  there  might  be  no  mistake,  they  added:  'Every  man  north 
of  Mason's  and  Dixou's  line  is  an  Abolitionist.'"  (Quarter- 
Centennial  Address.) 

NOTE  24. 

The  following  was  adopted  at  a  meeting  held  In  Clay  county, 
Missouri,  in  May,  1855: 

"That  we  regard  the  efforts  of  the  northern  division  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  establish  itself  in  our  State  as  a 
violation  of  her  plighted  faith,  and  pledged,  as  its  ministers 
must  be,  to  the  anti-slavery  principles  of  that  church,  we  are 
forced  to  regard  them  as  enemies  to  our  institutions.  We 


166  Tfo  Song  of  Kansas. 

therefore  fully  concur  with  our  friends  in  Platte  county  in  re- 
solving to  permit  no  persons  belonging  to  the  Northern  Metho- 
dist Church  to  preach  in  our  county."  (Gihon,  p.  36.) 

NOTE  25. 

The  following  is  the  Squatter  Sovereign's  relation  of  this 
affair.  It  occurred  August  16,  1855: 

"On  Thursday  last  one  Pardee  Butler  arrived  in  town,  with 
a  view  of  starting  for  the  East,  probably  for  the  purpose  of  get- 
ting a  fresh  supply  of  Free-Soilers  from  the  penitentiaries  and 
pest  holes  of  the  Northern  States.  Finding  it  inconvenient  to 
depart  before  morning,  he  took  lodging  at  the  hotel,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  visit  numerous  portions  of  our  town,  everywhere 
avowing  himself  a  Free-Soiler,  and  preaching  the  foulest  of 
abolition  heresies.  He  declared  the  recent  action  of  our  citi- 
zens in  regard  to  J.  W.  B.  Kelly,  [  who  was  beaten  by  a  mob, 
and  driven  from  Atchisou,]  the  infamous  and  unlawful  pro- 
ceedings of  a  mob,  at  the  same  time  stating  that  many  persons 
in  Atchison  who  were  Free-Soilers  at  heart  had  been  intimi- 
dated thereby,  and  feared  to  avow  their  true  sentiments,  but 
that  he  would  express  his  views  in  defiance  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. 

"  On  the  ensuing  morning  our  townsmen  assembled  en  masse, 
and  deeming  the  presence  of  such  persons  highly  detrimental  to 
the  safety  of  our  slave  property,  appointed  a  committee  of  two 
to  wait  on  Mr.  Butler,  and  request  his  signature  to  the  resolu- 
tions passed  at  the  late  Pro-Slavery  meeting  held  in  Atchison. 
After  perusing  the  said  resolutions,  Mr.  B.  positively  declined 
signing  them,  and  was  instantly  arrested  by  the  committee. 

"After  the  various  plans  for  bis  disposal  had  been  con- 
sidered, it  was  finally  decided  to  place  him  on  a  raft,  composed 
of  two  logs  firmly  lashed  together;  that  his  baggage  and  a  loaf 
of  bread  be  given  him;  and  having  attached  a  flag  to  his 
primitive  bark,  emblazoned  with  mottoes  indicative  of  our  con- 
tempt of  such  characters,  Mr.  Butler  was  set  adrift  in  the  great 
Missouri,  with  the  letter  "R"  legibly  painted  on  his  forehead. 
He  was  escorted  some  distance  down  the  river  by  several  of  our 


Bigtorie  Notes.  167 

citizens,  who,  seeing  him  pass  several  rock  heaps  in  quite  a 
skillful  manner,  bade  him  adieu,  and  returned  to  Atchison. 

"Such  treatment  may  be  expected  by  all  scoundrels  visiting 
our  town  for  the  purpose  of  interfering  with  our  time-honored 
institutions,  and  the  same  punishment  we  will  be  happy  to 
award  all  Free-Soilers,  Abolitionists,  and  their  emissaries." 

Butler  states  that  Robert  S.  Kelley,  the  junior  editor  of  the 
^ili/n(ter  Sovereign,  was  one  of  the  most  active  members  of  the 
mob;  that  he  committed  this  disgraceful  act,  and  that  he  as- 
sisted to  tow  the  raft  out  into  the  stream,  where  he  was  set 
adrift,  with  flags  having  the  following  strange  inscriptions: 
"Eastern  Emigrant  Aid  Express  —  the  Rev.  Mr.  Butler  for  the 
Underground  Railroad;"  "The  Way  They  Are  Served  in  Kan- 
sas;" "For  Boston;"  " Cargo  Insured,  Unavoidable  Danger  of 
the  Missourians  and  the  Missouri  River  Excepted;"  "Let  Fu- 
ture Emissaries  from  the  North  Beware  —  Our  Hemp  Crop  is 
Sufficient  to  Reward  All  Such  Scoundrels." 

Mr.  Butler  also  states:  "They  threatened  to  shoot  me  if  I 
pulled  my  flag  down.  I  pulled  it  down,  cut  the  flag  off  the 
flagstatf,  made  a  paddle  of  the  flagstaff,  and  ultimately  got 
ashore  about  six  miles  below.  They  all  admitted  when  we 
were  together  that  I  was  not  an  Abolitionist,  but  a  Free-Soiler. 
By  Free-Soiler  1  mean  one  in  favor  of  making  Kansas  a  free 
State."  (Kansas  Affairs,  p.  963.) 

NOTE  26. 

"On  the  21st  day  of  November,  1855,  F.  M.  Coleman,  a  Pro- 
Slavery  man,  and  Charles  W.  Dow,  a  Free-State  man,  had  a  dis- 
pute about  the  division  line  between  their  respective  claims. 
Several  hours  afterward,  as  Dow  was  passing  from  a  blacksmith 
shop  towards  his  claim  and  by  the  cabin  of  Coleman,  the  latter 
shot  Dow  with  a  double-barrel  shot  gun,  loaded  with  slugs. 
Dow  was  unarmed.  He  fell  across  the  road  and  died  imme- 
diately. This  was  about  one  o'clock,  and  his  dead  body  was 
allowed  to  lie  where  it  fell  till  after  sundown."  (Kansas  Af- 
fairs, p.  59.) 

This  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  Wakarusa  war.  ( See 
note  32.) 


168  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

NOTE  27. 

Among  those  ordered  to  leave  the  Territory  was  Mr.  Wm. 
Phillips,  a  lawyer,  of  Leavenworth,  who  had  signed  a  protest 
against  the  election  of  March  30,  in  that  city.  (For  protest, 
see  Kansas  Affairs,  p.  503.)  Upon  his  refusal  to  go,  he  was, 
on  the  17th  of  May,  1855,  seized  by  a  baud  of  men,  chiefly  from 
Missouri,  who  carried  him  eight  miles  up  the  river  to  Weston, 
where  they  shaved  one-half  of  his  head,  tarred  and  feathered 
him,  rode  him  on  a  rail  and  sold  him  at  a  mock  auction  by 
a  negro,  and  bid  in  by  another  negro  for  one  dollar,  all  of 
which  he  bore  with  manly  fortitude  and  bravery,  and  then  re- 
turned to  Leavenworth  and  persisted  in  remaining,  notwith- 
standing his  life  was  constantly  threatened  and  in  danger.  He 
was  subsequently  murdered  at  his  owu  house  by  a  company  of 
"law  and  order"  men,  or  Territorial  militia,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Capt.  Frederick  S.  Emery,  simply  for  refusng  to  leave 
the  town.  On  the  25th  of  May,  1855,  R.  R.  Reese,  (who  had 
been  elected  by  Missouri  votes  to  the  Territorial  council,)  pre- 
sided at  a  meeting  which  adopted  the  following  resolutions 
unanimously: 

"Resolved,  That  we  heartily  endorse  the  action  of  the  com- 
mittee of  citizens  that  shaved,  tarred  and  feathered,  rode  on  a 
rail  and  sold  by  a  negro  William  Phillips,  the  moral  perjurer. 

"Resolved,  That  we  return  our  thanks  to  the  committee  for 
faithfully  performing  the  trust  enjoined  upon  them  by  the  Pro- 
Slavery  party. 

"Resolved,  That  in  order  to  secure  peace  and  harmony  to 
the  community,  we  now  solemnly  declare,  that  the  Pro-Slavery 
party  will  stand  firmly  by  and  carry  out  the  resolutions  re- 
ported by  the  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose  on  the 
memorable  30th." 

(See  these  resolutions,  note22;Gihon,  p.  35;  Kansas  Affairs, 
pp.  963,  965,  970,  1026.) 

Judge  Lecompte  eloquently  addressed  the  above  meeting. 

NOTE  28. 

"On  the  afternoon  of  December  6, 1855,  three  men,  Thomas 
W.  Barber,  Robert  F.  Barber  and  Thomas  M.  Pierson,  left  Law- 
rence to  proceed  to  their  homes,  about  seven  miles  distant  (west 


Historic  Notes.  169 

of  Lawrence).  They  had  progressed  nearly  four  miles  when 
they  saw  a  party  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  horsemen  traveling 
the  road  leading  from  Lecompton  to  the  Wakarusa  camp. 
These  were  Pro-Slavery  men,  and  among  them  were  Gen.  Rich- 
ardson, commander  of  the  Kansas  militia;  Judge  S.  G.  Cato,  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory;  John  P.  Wood,  Probate 
Judge  and  Police  Magistrate  of  Douglas  county;  Col.  J.  N. 
Burns,  a  lawyer,  of  Weston,  Mo.,  and  Maj.  Geo.  W.  Clarke,  U. 
S.  agent  for  the  Pottawatomie  Indians. 

"The  Barbers,  who  were  brothers,  and  Pierson,  their  brother- 
in-law,  had  just  left  the  main  road  and  taken  a  nearer  path  to 
the  left.  Upon  perceiving  this  movement,  Clarke  and  Burns 
put  spurs  to  their  horses  and  dashed  across  the  prairie  with  the 
obvious  intention  to  intercept  them.  The  Barbers  thereupon 
slackened  their  pace,  when  Clarke,  getting  within  speaking  dis- 
tance, ordered  them  to  halt,  a  summons  which  they  imme- 
diately obeyed.  Richardson,  Cato  and  the  remainder  of  Clarke's 
party  continued  in  full  sight  and  at  but  a  short  distance.  Clarke, 
who  is  a  thick  set  man,  about  five  feet  three  inches  high,  ex- 
ceedingly loquacious  and  consequential  in  his  manners,  and 
notorious  for  his  violent  opposition  to  the  Free-State  people, 
commenced  interrogating  the  Barbers,  demanding  to  know  who 
they  were,  where  they  were  from  and  where  they  were  going, 
to  all  of  which  questions  Thomas  W.  Barber  made  mild  and 
truthful  replies.  Clarke  then  ordered  them  to  turn  their  horses 
heads  and  go  with  him  and  Burns,  which  demand  Barber  re- 
fused; whereupon  Clarke  drew  his  pistol,  and  taking  deliberate 
aim,  fired  at  Thomas  W.  Barber  (the  ball  entering  his  abdo- 
men), Burns  discharging  his  pistol  at  almost  the  same  instant. 
Robert  F.  Barber  then  returned  the  shot,  firing  three  times  in 
rapid  succession,  without  any  effect.  Pierson  had  with  him  a 
small  revolver,  but  could  not  get  it  out.  Thomas  W.  Barber 
was  without  arms  of  any  description.  The  parties  then  sepa- 
rated, taking  opposite  directions  and  galloping  their  horses. 
They  had  proceeded  but  a  short  distance  when  Thomas  W. 
Barber  remarked  to  his  brother,  with  a  smile,  'That  fellow  has 
shot  me,'  and  placed  his  hand  against  his  side.  Robert,  per- 


170  TJie  Song  of  Kansas. 

ceiving  that  he  had  dropped  the  reins  and  was  riding  unstead- 
ily, hastened  to  his  assistance  and  attempted  to  support  him, 
but  in  a  little  while  he  slipped  from  his  saddle  and  fell  to  the 
ground.  His  brother  and  Pierson  immediately  dismounted,  but 
Thomas  was  dead. 

"Clarke  boastingly  declared,  when  he  entered  the  Waka- 
rusa  camp,  'I  have  sent  another  d — d  Abolitionist  to  hell.'" 
(Gihon,  p.  65;  Kansas  Affairs,  pp.  1121-1128.) 

Brewertou,  a  regular  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Her- 
ald, says:  "There  are  circumstances  connected  with  the  life 
and  character  of  this  man  Barber  which  make  his  death  more 
particularly  to  be  deplored.  Barber  is  spoken  of  as  a  quit-t, 
uuoffensive  and  amiable  man,  domestic  and  unexceptionable  in 
his  habits  and  deeply  attached  to  his  wife,  to  whom  he  had 
been  married  between  nine  and  ten  years.  He  was  unarmed 
when  he  received  the  death  wound,  and  on  his  way  to  his  home. 
His  wife,  to  whom  he  had  written  to  inform  her  of  his  coming, 
was  expecting  him.  She  is  said  to  have  loved  her  husband 
with  more  than  ordinary  devotion.  It  was  her  habit  when  she 
saw  him  coming  back  from  his  work  to  leave  the  house  and  go 
forth  to  meet  him  on  his  way.  If  he  failed  to  return  at  the 
time  indicated  she  grew  anxious,  and  if  his  stay  was  prolonged 
oftentimes  passed  the  night  in  tears.  When  ill,  she  would 
hang  over  his  bed  with  all  the  anxiety  of  a  mother  for  her 
child.  She  would  seem,  too,  to  have  had  a  presentiment  of 
some  impending  evil;  for  after  exhausting  every  argument  to 
prevent  her  husband  from  going  to  join  the  Free-State  forces, 
at  Lawrence,  she  said:  'Oh  !  Thomas,  if  you  should  be  shot,  I 
should  be  all  alone,  indeed;  remember,  I  have  no  child,  nothing 
in  the  wide  world  to  fill  your  place.'  And  this  was  their  last 
parting.  And  when  the  tidings  of  his  death  came  she  burst 
forth:  'They  have  left  me  a  poor,  forsaken  creature,  to  mourn 
all  my  days.  Oh  my  husband !  they  have  taken  from  me  all 
that  I  hold  dear;  one  that  I  loved  better  than  I  loved  my  own 
life.' "  ( War  in  Kansas,  p.  330.) 

The  following  is  from  the  pen  of  Hannah  Anderson  Ropes, 
taken  from  one  of  a  series  of  letters  written  from  Lawrence  to 


Historic  Notes.  171 

her  mother  in  the  East,  in  1854-5.  She  is  one  of  the  most 
charming  of  Kansas  writers,  and  in  emotional  literature  has 
few  equals  in  the  world.  She  says:  "I  believe  I  have  forgot- 
ten to  tell  you  that  the  funeral  of  Mr.  Barber  was  deferred  on 
account  of  the  important  business  this  week  to  be  attended  to. 
Another  week  has  closed,  and  the  Sabbath  calls  all  people  out 
to  pay  the  last  tribute  of  respect  to  poor  Barber's  memory.  A 
December  day,  but  clear,  cloudless,  dreadfully  bright  and 
windy,  .  .  .  yet  the  whole  neighborhood  seems  astir  witli 
people  picking  their  way  to  one  center  —  the  hotel — where  not 
as  last  Monday  evening  for  rejoicing  they  came  together,  but 
to  mourn  with  the  sufferers  of  a  great  sorrow:  a  widow  made 
so  by  violence  wholly  unprovoked;  a  brother  bereaved  in  a 
manner  never  to  be  forgotten,  never  to  be  thought  of  in  years 
to  come  but  with  the  smartest  twinges  of  pain.  The  room  we 
enter  is  a  long  dining  hall.  The  walls  are  of  limestone,  rough 
and  unplastered.  Seats  of  plank  stretch  in  rows  closely  packed 
through  the  whole  length,  with  the  exception  of  a  narrow  space 
for  the  clergyman.  The  seats  are  all  filled.  The  atmosphere 
of  the  assembly  is  of  the  truest  sympathy.  Each  soul  seems 
personally  aggrieved  and  afflicted.  Silence  is  the  only  and 
most  emphatic  expression  given  to  this  grief.  The  first  break 
upon  that  silence  is  the  tread  of  many  feet,  and  a  smothered, 
broken  sob  that  will  not  be  wholly  choked  down.  Working 
his  way  through  the  crowd  appears  a  tall  man  with  white  hair, 
large  blue  eyes,  and  a  very  benevolent  countenance.  You  see 
at  once  that  he  is  a  Methodist.  He  has  clinging  to  his  arm  a 
small  veiled  figure.  Every  one  knows  't  is  a  widow,  '  a  widow 
indeed ! '  Then  comes  another  sob,  as  she  is  borne  along  to 
the  far  end  of  the  hall.  The  man  of  white  hair  stoops  over  her 
tenderly  and  whispers  words  of  peace  to  her.  I  do  not  hear 
them;  she  does  not.  Now  she  sinks  into  a  seat.  A  hymn  is 
read  and  the  crowd  sing  the  tune  'Martin  Luther,' so  familiar 
to  everybody,  and  stretching  back  over  the  whole  length  of  the 
oldest  life  present.  What  a  relief  it  is !  How  it  gathers  up 
and  rolls  away  the  pent-up  emotions  of  the  multitude !  Now 
the  white  head  sinks  down  over  bended  knees  to  the  floor,  and 


172  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

his  voice  utters  its  prayers  and  supplications,  while  the  tears 
course  down  the  cheeks  of  the  speaker  and  his  audience.  The 
sobs  of  the  broken  heart  grow  fainter.  Does  she  find  a  relief 
through  the  channels  of  other  hearts?  I  believe  so.  Then 
follow  short  speeches  from  Col.  Lane  and  Gen.  Robinson,  and 
a  sad  sermon  from  the  white  head.  All  the  exercises  are  re- 
markably good  of  the  kind.  .  .  . 

"The  services  are  over  and  the  people  form  a  procession; 
men,  with  arms  reversed,  take  the  lead;  then  the  body  and  its 
friends;  then  the  whole  crowd,  mounted  in  carts  drawn  by 
oxen,  wagons  led  by  mules,  and  carriages  of  every  pattern 
form  into  a  solid  line  stretching  far  along  the  open  country. 
Up  over  Mount  Pleasant  curves  the  road  to  the  ground  appro- 
priated for  a  burial  place,  two  miles  away.  What  a  sight  it  is  ! 
One  like  it  could  hardly  be  got  up  anywhere  else,  or  under  any 
other  circumstances.  This  grand  old  country,  venerable  with 
its  lofty  trees,  its  smoothly- terraced  hills,  its  serene  repose, 
where  the  moccasin  has  only  trod  as  at  home  and  crept  away 
in  by  places  to  take  the  sleep  of  d  a  'i !  The  tread  of  the  white 
man  is  fresh  and  new,  but  to-day  the  grand  old  prairie  wit- 
nesses the  burial  of  its  second  martyr!  Now  the  soldiers 
make  a  wall  on  either  side,  with  lifted  hats,  for  the  mourners 
to  pass  through.  Gently  the  coffin  is  lowered  to  its  last  rest. 
while  the  words:  'Dust  to  dust,'  'I  am  the  resurrection  and  the 
life,'  are  broken  by  the  wailing  wind  and  lost  to  the  ears  of  the 
audience  by  the  fast-coming  sobs  of  that  forlorn,  childless,  earth- 
stricken  widow  !  The  soldiers  now  approach;  the  audience  and 
frieuds  fall  back,  giving  place  to  them  while  standing  about 
the  grave.  At  the  signal  of  their  commander,  Uncle  Jeff,  one 
division  after  another  bury  the  contents  of  their  rifles  in  the 
last  resting  place  of  their  much  beloved  and  honored  comrade." 
(Six  Months  in  Kansas,  pp.  146,  149.) 

"Lay  him  down  in  hope  and  faith, 
And  above  the  broken  sod 
Once  again  to  Freedom's  God 
Pledge  yourself  for  life  or  death. 


Historic  Notes.  173 

That  the  State  whose  walls  ye  lay 
In  your  blood  and  tears  to-day 

Shall  be  free  from  bonds  of  shame, 
And  your  goodly  land  uutrod 
By  the  feet  of  slavery,  shod 

With  cursing  and  with  &ame."—Whittier. 

NOTE  29. 

Andrew  H.  Reeder,  the  first  Governor  of  Kansas,  was  a  res- 
ident of  Eastou,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  appointed  to  this  high 
office  by  President  Pierce,  because  of  his  eminent  qualifications 
and  his  great  influence  in  the  Democratic  party.  He  received 
his  appointment  in  June,  1854,  but  did  not  arrive  in  Kansas 
until  October.  This,  the  first  office  he  had  ever  accepted,  was 
without  his  own  solicitation;  he  was  therefore  prepared  to  exe- 
cute the  high  trnst,  in  justice  and  fairness  to  the  settlers,  in 
accordance  to  law  and  the  principles  of  the  Democratic'party  as 
he  understood  them.  He  came  to  Kansas  a  Douglas  Democrat, 
and  in  less  than  a  year  was  removed  from  office,  because  he 
dared  to  do  right.  The  crimes  and  frauds  which  he  saw  com- 
mitted on  Kansas  soil  by  the  Pro-Slavery  party  so  highly  in- 
censed him  that  he  forever  quit  its  ranks,  and  in  May,  1856,  he 
escaped  from  the  Territory  a  Republican.  When  the  civil  war 
came  on  he  and  Nathaniel  Lyon  were  the  two  first  brigadier 
generals  of  the  regular  army  appointed  by  Abrah  m  Lincoln. 
Reeder  did  not  accept;  his  three  sons,  however,  enlisted  in  the 
Union  army.  He  died  July  5th,  1864,  at  his  home.  I  now 
give  a  brief  account  of  his  escape  from  Kansas: 

On  the  seventh  day  of  May,  1856,  while  he  was  examining 
witnesses  at  Tecumseh,  before  the  Congressional  committee  on 
Kansas  affairs,  James  F.  Legate,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
grand  jury,  came  and  informed  him  that  a  plan  to  paralyze  the 
Free-State  party  had  been  laid  and  was  about  to  be  carried  out, 
by  indicting  all  the  officers  of  the  provisional  State  govern- 
ment and  judges  of  the  election.  A  number  of  indictments 
had  already  been  found,  but  as  yet  not  passed.  The  grand  jury 
at  Lecomptou,  having  been  charged  by  Chief  Justice  Lecornpte 


174  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

that  the  above  officers  were  indictable,  they  voted  by  a  large 
majority  of  the  sixteen  present,  and  without  any  testimony  at 
all,  to  find  true  bills  against  Governor  Robinson  aud  Andrew 
H.  Reeder  for  treason.  The  plotters  of  this  crime  knowing 
that  on  a  warrant  for  treason  they  would  not  go  to  Lecompton, 
the  court  tried  the  strategy  of  a  subpoena,  but  Reeder,  seeing 
that  it  was  irregular  in  form,  disobeyed.  On  the  eighth,  the 
committee  went  to  Lawrence  to  take  testimony,  when  at  about 
2  o'clock  P.  M.  a  Mr.  Fain,  fresh  from  Georgia,  who  was  acting 
as  deputy  marshal,  came  into  the  room  of  the  committee  witli 
his  posse,  all  armed,  and  served  an  attachment  on  Governor 
Reeder;  whereupon  Reeder  put  himself  on  his  privilege,  and 
asked  that  the  committee  protect  him  in  it.  This  they  refused 
to  do,  but  Howard  and  Sherman  clearly  and  decidedly  gave 
their  opinion  that  he  was  privileged  from  any  such  process  for 
his  arrest;  Oliver  holding  the  contrary.  Reeder  then  stood 
upon  his  own  defense  and  refused  to  obey,  telling  the  deputy 
marshal  that  if  he  tried  to  arrest  him,  it  would  be  at  his  peril. 
The  posse  then  left. 

Reeder  then  wrote  to  Governor  Shannon  and  Judge  Le- 
compte,  stating  that  if  they  would  give  him  their  guaranty  of 
personal  safety  and  immediate  return  to  the  committee,  he 
would  go  to  Lecompton  and  testify.  The  next  day  Lecompte 
returned  word  that  he  had  no  answer  to  give. 

Mr.  Howard,  the  chairman  of  the  Congressional  committee, 
with  Lowrey,  Jenkins,  Hutchinson,  Roberts  and  others,  then 
insisted  that  Reeder  should  leave  the  Territory,  and  not  put  his 
life  in  jeopardy  any  longer.  Accordingly,  on  the  night  of  the 
10th  of  May  he  left  with  Jenkins,  in  a  two-horse  buggy,  taking 
the  road  to  Kansas  City  by  way  of  Blantou's,  on  the  Wakarusa, 
instead  of  going  by  Franklin,  where  the  enemy  was  encamped. 
On  the  night  of  the  llth  he  arrived  at  the  Eldridge  hotel,  in 
Kansas  City,  where  he  remained  concealed  eleven  days.  Dur- 
ing this  time  he  tried,  through  his  friends,  to  find  a  safe  pas- 
sage down  the  river  on  a  steamer,  and  failed.  On  the  night  of 
the  22d  he  disguised  himself  in  the  garb  and  demeanor  of  an 
Irishman,  and  boldly  left  his  room,  passed  down  the  hall  stairs. 


Historic  Notes.  1 75 

elbowed  his  way  through  a  border  ruffian  crowd,  and  reached 
the  front  of  the  hotel,  where  he  lazily  stretched  himself,  and 
unchallenged  took  a  seat  near  the  front  steps.  Presently  he 
got  up  and  leisurely  walked  down  the  road,  and  went  to  the 
house  of  a  Mr.  Brown,  quite  out  of  town.  All  day  the  23d  Be 
kept  concealed  in  Brown's  house. 

Here  Reeder  determined  to  take  a  skiff  and  row  down  the 
river,  and  await  the  steamboat  "J.  M.  Converse,"  Captain 
Bowman,  for  Pittsburg,  knowing  him  to  be  friendly.  The 

procuring  of  the  skiff  was  left  to Adams,  and  when  it  was 

quite  dark  he  took  aboard  his  charge,  provided  with  bundles 
and  two  axes.  They  then  dropped  down  half  a  mile  below 
Randolph  Landing,  which  is  five  miles  from  Kansas  City,  and 
fastening  the  skiff,  went  into  the  woods  and  slept  till  morning. 
On  the  afternoon  of  this  day  (the  24th)  the  "Converse" 
stopped  at  the  lauding,  and  as  soon  as  the  gang  plank  was  run 
out,  Reeder,  with  his  bundle  and  axe  on  his  shoulder,  hot  and 
puffing  and  blowing,  went  on  board.  Here  he  remained  with 
the  deck  hands  two  days,  and  at  last  was  landed,  amid  thunder 
and  lightning,  at  a  wood  pile  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Mis- 
souri. Here  two  companions,  Bassett  and  Brackett,  accom- 
panied him  across  to  the  Mississippi,  which  they  reached  fifteen 
miles  above  Alton,  at  8  o'clock  A.  M.  on  the  25th.  Thus  he 
effected  his  escape  from  the  Territory,  and  perhaps  from  death. 
(Diary  of  Gov.  A.  H.  Reeder.) 

While  Governor  Reeder  was  thus  secretly  effecting  his  es- 
cape, no  greater  eventful  days  were  crowded  into  Kansas  his- 
tory. Lawrence  was  sacked;  the  Eldridge  hotel  burned;  the 
Herald  of  Freedom  and  Kansas  Free  State  offices  were  de- 
stroyed, and  the  type  thrown  into  the  Kansas  river;  Governor 
Robinson  and  many  others  were  arrested  for  treason;  Charles 
Sunnier  was  struck  down  in  the  United  States  Senate  for  his 
great  speech,  "The  Crime  Against  Kansas;'^  Jones  and  Stewart 
were  shot  while  in  a  defenseless  condition,  near  Lawrence,  for 
no  other  crime  than  that  they  were  Free-State  men;  and  John 
Brown  struck  his  retributive  blow  on  the  Pottawatomie.  And  all 
this  in  less  than  six  days— from  the  19th  to  the  24th  of  May,  1S50. 


176  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

NOTE  30. 

"The  South  Carolina  flag  was  blood  red,  with  a  lone  white 
star,  and  bore  the  inscription,  'Southern  Rights.'  This,  at  the 
sacking  of  Lawrence,  on  the  20th  of  May,  1856,  was  first  hoisted 
over  the  Herald  of  Freedom  office,  and  then  removed  to  the 
Eldridge  hotel,  and  there  floated  while  the  bombardment  was 
going  on."  (Mrs.  Eobinson's  "Kansas,"  p.  245.) 

NOTE  31. 

The  calling  out  of  the  troops  came  about  in  this  way:  Sheriff 
Jones  sent  the  following  dispatch  to  Governor  Shannon  — 

DOUGLAS  COUNTY,  K.  T.,  Nov.  27,  1855. 
STB — Last  night  I,  with  a  posse  of  ten  men,  arrested  one 
Jacob  Bronsom,  by  virtue  of  a  peace  warrant  regularly  issued, 
who  on  our  return  was  rescued  by  a  party  of  forty  armed  men, 
who  rushed  upon  us  suddenly  from  behind  a  house  upon  the 
roadside,  all  armed  to  the  teeth  with  Sharpe's  rifles. 

You  may  consider  an  open  rebellion  as  having  already  com- 
menced, and  I  call  upon  you  for  3,000  men  to  carry  out  the 
laws.  Mr.  Hargis,  the  bearer  of  this  letter,  will  give  you  more 
particularly  the  circumstances. 

Most  respectfully,  SAMUEL  J.  JOXES, 

Sheriff  of  Douglas  County. 
His  excellency  WILSON  SHANNON, 

Governor  Kansas  Territory. 

After  a  preliminary  recital  of  the  information  obtained, 
Governor  Shannon  commands  Maj.  Gen.  William  P.  Donald- 
sou  as  follows: 

You  are  hereby  ordered  to  collect  together  as  large  a  force 
as  you  can  in  your  division  and  repair  without  delay  to  Le- 
compton,  and  report  yourself  to  S.  J.  Jones,  Sheriff  of  Douglas 
county.  You  will  inform  him  of  the  number  of  men  under 
your  control,  and  render  him  all  the  assistance  in  your  power 
should  he  require  your  aid  in  the  execution  of  any  legal  process 
in  his  hands.  The  forces  under  your  command  are  to  be  used 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  aiding  the  sheriff  in  executing  the  law, 
and  for  none  other. 

J  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILSON  SHANXON. 

This  struggle  was  temporarily  held  in  abeyance  by  the  treaty 
nf  Shannon,  Lane  and  Robinson,  which  was  executed  December 


Historic  Notes.  Ill 

8,  1855.  At  last,  however,  in  the  May  following,  the  blast  of 
deadly  war  was  blown. 

It  may  be  well,  iu  this  connection,  to  give  Sheriff  Jones' 
opinion  of  Governor  Shannon.  Nine  days  after  the  above 
executive  order,  G.  W.  Clarke  killed  Thomas  W.  Barber,  and 
two  days  after  this  killing  the  famous  Shannon,  Lane  and  liob- 
inson  treaty  was  signed,  and  Jones  was  foiled  in  his  nefarious 
designs. 

"Jones  said  if  Shannon  hadn't  been  a  d — d  old  fool,  that 
peace  would  never  have  been  declared.  He  (Jones)  would 
have  wiped  Lawrence  out.  He  had  men  and  means  enough  to 
do  it.  He  said  if  Sam.  Wood  ever  came  back  to  the  Territory 
he  would  take  him,  or  die  in  the  attempt.  He  said  he  would 
issue  his  own  proclamation,  and  not  call  upon  Shannon,  and  he 
would  raise  boys  enough  in  Missouri  to  blow  Lawrence  and 
every  other  d — d  Abolition  town  to  h — 1.  He  would  n't  have 
any  old  grannies  to  stop  him."  (Harrison  Nichols'  testimony, 
Kansas  Affairs,  p.  1127.) 

NOTE  33. 

On  the  20th  day  of  May,  1856,  Lawrence  was  taken  by  the 
chivalry  of  the  South.  The  Free  State  press  and  Herald  of 
Freedom  and  the  Eldridge  hotel  were  destroyed. 

Gen.  D.  R.  Atchison  addressed  the  crowd  who  did  the  work 
as  follows : 

"Boys,  this  day  I  am  a  Kickapoo  Ranger,  by  G— -d.  This 
day  we  have  entered  Lawrence  with  'Southern  Rights'  in- 
scribed upon  our  banner,  and  not  one  d — d  Abolitionist  dared 
to  fire  a  gun.  Now,  boys,  this  is  the  happiest  day  of  my  life. 
We  have  entered  that  d — d  town  and  taught  the  d — d  Aboli- 
tionists a  Southern  lesson  that  they  will  remember  until  the 
day  they  die.  And  now,  boys,  we  will  go  in  again  with  our 
highly  honorable  Jones  and  test  the  strength  of  that  d — d  Free- 
State  hotel,  and  teach  the  Emigrant  Aid  Company  that  Kansas 
shall  be  ours.  Boys,  ladies  should  and  I  hope  will  be  respected 
by  every  gentleman.  But  when  a  woman  takes  upon  herself 
the  garb  of  a  soldier  by  carrying  a  Sharpe's  rifle,  then  she  is  uo 

—12 


178  The  Sony  of  Kansas. 

longer  worthy  of  respect ;  trample  her  under  your  feet  as  you 
would  a  snake.  Come  on,  boys !  Now  do  your  duty  to  your- 
selves and  your  Southern  friends.  Your  duty  I  know  you  will 
do.  If  one  man  or  woman  dare  stand  before  you,  blow  them  to 
h— 1  with  a  chunk  of  cold  lead."  (Mrs.  Robinson's,  "Kansas," 
p.  243.) 

NOTE  33. 

"As  to  the  charge  of  party  bias,  Lecompte  says:  'I  am  proud 
of  mine.  It  has  from  my  first  manhood  to  this  day  placed  me 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Democratic  party.  It  has  taught  me  to  re- 
gard that  party  as  the  one  par  excellence,  to  which  the  destinies 
of  this  country  are  particularly  intrusted  for  preservation.  If 
it  be  intended  to  reach  beyond  that  general  application,  and  to 
charge  a  Pro-Slavery  bias,  I  am  proud,  too,  of  this.  I  am  the 
steady  friend  of  Southern  rights,  under  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States.  I  have  been  reared  where  slavery  was  recog- 
nized by  the  constitution  of  my  State.  I  love  the  institution, 
as  entwining  itself  around  all  my  early  and  late  associations.'" 
(Gihon,  p.  165.) 

NOTE  34. 
Treasonable  nuisance. 


The  Lecompton  Union  gave  the  following  account  of  this 
affair: 

"During  this  time  appeals  were  made  to  Sheriff  Jones  to 
save  the  Aid  Society's  hotel.  This  news  reached  the  company's 
ears,  and  was  received  with  one  universal  cry  of  'No !  no !  blow 
it  up!  blow  it  up!' 

"About  this  time  a  banner  was  seen  fluttering  in  the  breeze 
over  the  office  of  the  Herald  of  Freedom.  Its  color  was  a  blood 
red,  with  a  lone  star  in  the  center,  and  'South  Carolina'  above. 
This  banner  was  placed  there  by  the  Carolinians,  Messrs.  Wright 
and  a  Mr.  Cross.  The  effect  was  prodigious.  One  tremendous 
and  long-contiuued  shout  burst  from  the  ranks.  Thus  floated 


Historic  Notes.  179 

iu  triumph  the  banner  of  South  Carolina,  that  single  white  star, 
so  emblematic  of  her  course  in  the  early  history  of  our  sectional 
disturbances.  When  every  other  Southern  State  stood  almost 
upon  the  verge  of  ceding  its  dearest  rights  to  the  North,  Caro- 
lina stood  boldly  out,  the  firm  and  unwavering  advocate  of 
Southern  institutions. 

"Thus  floated  victoriously  the  first  banner  of  Southern  rights 
over  the  Abolition  town  of  Lawrence,  unfurled  by  the  noble 
sons  of  Carolina,  and  every  whip  of  its  folds  seemed  a  death 
stroke  to  Beecher  propagandist!!  and  the  fanatics  of  the  East. 
O I  that  its  red  folds  could  have  been  seen  by  every  Southern 
eye! 

"Mr.  Jones  listened  to  many  entreaties,  and  finally  replied 
that  it  was  beyond  his  power  to  do  anything,  and  gave  the  oc- 
cupants so  long  to  remove  all  property  from  it.  He  ordered 
two  companies  into  each  printing  office  to  destroy  the  presses. 
Both  presses  were  broken  up  and  thrown  into  the  street,  the 
type  thrown  into  the  river,  and  all  the  material  belonging  to 
each  office  destroyed.  After  this  was  accomplished,  and  the 
private  property  removed  from  the  hotel  by  different  com- 
panies, the  cannon  were  brought  in  front  of  the  house,  and 
directed  their  destructive  blows  upon  the  walls.  The  building 
caught  on  fire,  and  soon  its  walls  came  with  a  crash  to  the 
ground.  Thus  fell  the  Abolition  fortress;  and  we  hope  this 
will  teach  the  Aid  Society  a  good  lesson  for  the  future." 
(Quoted  by  Gihon,  p.  84.) 

"Jones  himself  was  in  ecstactes.  He  sat  upon  his  horse, 
contemplating  the  havoc  he  was  making,  and,  rubbing  his  hands 
with  wild  delight,  exclaimed:  'This  is  the  happiest  day  of  my 
life.  I  determined  to  make  the  fanatics  bow  before  me  in  the 
dust  and  kiss  the  Territorial  laws,  and  I  have  done  it;  by  G — d, 
1  have  done  it.'"  (Gihon,  p.  85.) 

NOTE  36. 
The  Quantrell  raid. 


180  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

NOTE  37. 

On  the  19th  and  20th  of  May,  1856,  Charles  Sunnier  made, 
in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  his  great  speech—"  The  crime  against 
Kansas."  In  this  he  said  :  "A  few  short  months  have  passed 
since  this  spacious  mediterranean  country  was  open  only  to  the 
savage,  who  ran  wild  in  its  woods  and  prairies ;  and  now  it  has 
already  drawn  to  its  bosom  a  population  of  freemen  larger  than 
Athens  crowded  within  her  historic  gates,  when  her  sons  under 
Miltiades  won  liberty  for  mankind  on  the  field  of  Marathon ; 
more  than  Sparta  contained  when  she  ruled  Greece,  and  sent 
forth  her  devoted  children' quickened  by  a  mother's  benediction 
to  return  with  their  shields  or  on  them ;  more  than  Rome  gath- 
ered on  her  seven  hills,  when  under  her  kings  she  commenced 
that  sovereign  sway  which  afterward  embraced  the  whole  earth ; 
more  than  London  held  when  on  the  fields  of  Crecy  and  Agin- 
court  the  English  banner  was  carried  victoriously  over  the 
chivalrous  hosts  of  France." 

NOTE  38. 

Mrs.  H.  A.  Ropes  gives  the  following  pen  portrait  of  Reese 
P.  Brown,  murdered  on  the  19th  of  January,  1856 : 

"Captain  Brown  lived  but  a  few  hours  after  his  wounds 
were  inflicted.  He  was  taken  prisoner  by  men  from  Platte 
county,  and  confined  in  a  room,  to  be  hung  the  next  morning, 
but  so  greedy  were  his  captors  for  his  blood  that,  before  he  was 
really  led  out  of  the  entrance  to  his  prison,  hatchets  were  raised 
above  his  head  and  bowie  knives  thrust  into  his  body.  He  fell 
most  barbarously  wounded.  At  his  earnest  request  he  was 
placed  in  a  wagon  and  taken  to  his  home,  where,  on  his  arrival, 
he  had  just  time  enough  to  bid  farewell  to  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren. 

"Captain  Brown  was  born  at  the  South,  emigrated  from  Ohio 
to  this  Territory  with  his  family,  and  located  near  Fort  Leav- 
enworth.  In  the  autumn  he  came  to  Lawrence  and  remained 
till  our  safety  was  no  longer  in  jeopardy.  In  persoual  appear- 
ance he  was  quite  a  marked  man,  even  in  a  crowd.  He  was 
unusually  tall,  with  a  rich  brown  complexion,  dark,  abundant 


JUxtoric  Notes.  181 

hair  and  beard,  and  eyes  large,  dark,  and  sad  in  expression.  I 
do  not  think  that  any  one  who  ever  saw  him  will  forget  his 
personal  appearance;  and  no  dweller  in  Kansas  can  ever  for- 
get the  mark  his  cruel  death  has  made  upon  the  pages  of  its 
early  history."  (Six  Months  in  Kansas,  p.  169.) 

NOTE  39. 

"On  Monday,  May  19th,  word  came  into  Lawrence  of  the 
murder  of  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Jones,  the  support  of 
his  widowed  mother.  He  had  been  to  Lawrence  for  a  bag  of 
meal,  and  returning,  was  ordered  to  halt  by  a  band  of  the  mar- 
shal's posse  near  Blantoirs  bridge.  He  obeyed  the  order  of 
the  ruffianly  assassins,  and  they  disarmed  him.  Then  they 
ordered  him  to  proceed,  and,  as  he  did  so,  two  of  the  posse  ex- 
claimed: 'Let's  shoot  the  d—d  Abolitionist!'  Suiting  the  ac- 
tion to  the  word,  the  balls  sped  on  their  swift  errand,  and  the 
recording  angel  wrote  against  the  names  of  some  high  in  power 
another  murder. 

"Several  young  men  immediately  left  Lawrence  to  go  to  the 
spot  where  young  Jones  fell,  and  about  a  mile  from  Lawrence 
they  met  two  men  from  Westport.  Another  ball  did  the  bid- 
ding of  the  slave  interest,  and  another  witness  appeared  against 
its  supporters  in  the  high  court  where  perjury  enters  not,  and 
packed  juries  are  unknown.  The  body  of  young  Stewart,  so 
lately  come  among  us,  was  brought  into  town  and  laid  in  the 
hotel.  So  sudden  was  his  passage  from  this  to  the  unseen  life, 
that  the  placid  countenance  wore  not  the  aspect  of  death,  but 
the  beautiful  repose  of  a  dreamy  sleep."  (Mrs.  Kobinsou's 
"Kansas,"  p.  238.) 

NOTE  40. 

During  Monroe's  administration  the  Missouri  compromise 
measure  came  up.  A  bill  organizing  the  Territory  of  Mis- 
souri was  introduced,  and  James  Tallmadge,  of  New  York, 
moved  in  the  House  to  insert  a  clause  prohibiting  any  further 
introduction  of  slaves,  and  freeing  those  already  there  on  at- 
taining the  age  of  twenty-five  years.  This  came  to  a  vote, 


182  TJie  Song  of  Kansas. 

standing  eighty-seven  for,  to  seventy-six  against.  Afterward, 
on  a  bill  to  organize  the  Territory  of  Arkansas,  on  a  motion  to 
exclude  slavery  from  any  Territory  of  the  United  States  north 
of  latitude  36°  30',  Mr.  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  looking  at  Tallmadge, 
said:  "A  fire  has  been  kindled  which  all  the  waters  of  the  ocean 
cannot  put  out,  and  which  only  seas  of  blood  can  extinguish." 
Tallmadge  replied:  "If  dissolution  of  the  Union  must  take 
place,  let  it  be  so.  If  civil  war  must  come,  let  it  come.  My 
hold  on  life  is  probably  as  frail  as  any  man's  who  hears  me: 
but  while  it  lasts  it  shall  be  devoted  to  the  freedom  of  man. 
If  blood  is  necessary  to  put  out  this  fire,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to 
give  my  own." 

NOTE  41. 

"John  Brown  was  a  Bible  worshiper,  if  ever  any  man  was. 
He  read  and  meditated  on  the  Bible  constantly.  In  his  will  he 
bequeathed  a  Bible  to  each  of  his  childen  and  grandchildren, 
and  he  wrote  to  his  family  a  few  days  before  his  execution : 
'I  beseech  you  every  one  to  make  the  Bible  your  daily  and 
nightly  study.'"  (Sanborn's  "Life  of  John  Brown,"  p.  121.) 

NOTE  42. 

"The  weapons  used  were  short  cutlasses  or  artillery  sabres 
which  had  been  originally  worn  by  a  military  company  in  Ohio, 
and  were  brought  from  Akron,  in  1855,  by  John  Brown. 
They  were  straight  and  broad,  like  an  old  army  sword,  and 
were  freshly  ground  for  this  expedition  at  the  camp  of  John 
Brown,  jr."  (Sauborn's  "John  Brown,"  p.  264.) 

NOTE  43. 

At  the  time  of  this  "taking  off"  by  John  Brown,  Governor 
Robinson,  Gaius  Jenkins,  G.  W.  Brown,  G.  W.  Deitzler  and 
G.  W.  Smith  were  under  arrest  and  indictment  for  high  treason, 
and  it  is  highly  probable  they  would  have  been  hanged  for  the 
crime  charged  had  not  this  retributive  blow  been  struck  by 
John  Brown  just  at  this  time.  Lecompte,  the  Chief  Justice, 
was  just  the  man  who  would  have  gloried  in  executing  sen- 


c  Notes.  183 


tence.  But  John  Brown,  who  took  in  the  whole  situation  of 
Kansas  affairs,  and  saw  the  wrath  of  the  slave  power  culminat- 
ing in  the  blood  of  freemen,  arose  like  some  avenging  spirit, 
with  a  genius  quickened  by  inspiration,  and  struck  the  blow 
which  sent  terror  into  the  soul  of  Lecompte,  and  paralyzed  the 
judicial  arm.  Brown  afterward  said:  "If  the  Lord  had  deliv- 
ered Judge  Lecompte  into  my  hands,  it  would  have  required 
the  Lord  to  have  taken  him  out  again." 

NOTE  44. 

"Fugit  is  the  person  who  made  a  bet  in  this  (  Leavenworth) 
city  last  August,  1856,  that  before  night  he  would  have  a 
Yankee  scalp.  lie  got  a  horse  and  rode  out  into  the  country 
and  met  a  German,  a  brother-in-law  of  the  Rev.  E.  Nute, 
named  Hoppe.  He  asked  if  he  was  from  Lawrence;  Hoppe 
replied  that  he  was.  Fugit  immediately  leveled  his  revolver 
and  fired,  the  shot  taking  effect  in  the  temples,  and  Hoppe  fell 
a  corpse.  The  assassin  dismounted  from  his  horse,  cut  the 
scalp  from  the  back  of  his  head,  tied  it  to  tlie  end  of  a  pole,  and 
returned  to  town,  exhibiting  it  to  the  people  and  boasting  of 
his  exploit.  The  body  of  the  victim  was  found  shortly  after 
and  buried  on  Pilot  Knob,  about  two  miles  distant  from  the 
city.  This  same  Fugit  was  one  of  the  party  who,  when  the 
widow  came  from  Lawrence  to  look  for  her  husband's  corpse, 
forced  her  on  board  a  steamer  and  sent  her  down  the  river. 
A  gentleman  now  living  in  this  city  (  Leaven  worth)  saw  him 
exhibiting  four  scalps  at  one  time  during  the  troubles  of  last 
summer"  (  1856  ).  (Correspondent  of  Missouri  Democrat,  quoted 
by  Gihou,  p.  300.) 

NOTE  45. 

"When  the  army  from  Missouri  was  disbanded,  by  order 
of  Gov.  Geary,  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  November,  1856, 
the  great  body  of  it  returned  at  once  to  the  State  by  the  West- 
port  road,  committing  every  atrocity  in  their  power  as  they 
passed  along.  They  burned  the  saw  mill  at  Franklin,  stole  a 
number  of  horses,  and  drove  off  all  the  cattle  they  could  find. 


184  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

A  detachment  calling  themselves  the  'Kickapoo  rangers,' 
numbering  about  250  or  300  men,  under  command  of  Col. 
Clarkson,  took  the  road  for  Lecompton,  where  they  forded  the 
river  early  in  the  afternoon  on  their  way  to  the  northern  part 
of  the  Territory.  This  party  was  mounted  and  well  armed, 
and  looked  like  as  desperate  a  set  of  ruffians  as  ever  were 
gathered  together.  They  still  carried  the  black  flag;  and  their 
cannon,  guns,  swords  and  carriages  were  yet  decorated  with  the 
black  emblems  of  their  murderous  intentions. 

"Six  men  of  this  detachment,  when  within  a  few  miles  of 
Lecompton,  halted  by  a  field,  where  a  poor,  inoffensive  lame 
man  named  David  C.  Buffum  was  at  work.  They  entered  the 
field,  and  after  robbing  him  of  his  horses  one  of  them  shot  him 
in  the  abdomen,  from  which  wound  he  soon  afterward  died. 
The  murderer  also  carried  away  a  pony  belonging  to  a  young 
girl."  (  Gihou,  p.  166.) 

For  this  crime  one  Charles  Hays  was  arrested,  indicted  for 
murder  in  the  first  degree,  and  set  at  liberty  without  trial  by 
Chief  Justice  Lecompte.  He  was  then  arrested  by  order  of 
Governor  Geary,  and  again  set  at  liberty  by  Lecompte.  And 
this  ended  the  conflict  between  the  executive  and  the  judiciary 
of  the  Territory. 

NOTE  46. 

Capt.  Samuel  Walker  went  twice  with  his  small  army  to 
Lecompton.  First,  on  the  16th  of  August,  1856,  at  which  time 
the  fort  of  Titus  was  taken  and  burned,  and  five  prisoners 
liberated.  The  second  time  was  about  three  weeks  after, 
which  was  shotless  and  bloodless.  The  prisoners  were  all  lib- 
erated, and  Lecompton  fell. 

NOTE  47. 

"On  Monday  morning,  February  9,  1857,  accompanied  by  Dr. 
Gihon  and  Richard  McAllister,  Esq.,  the  Governor  visited  suc- 
cessively the  Supreme  Court,  the  Council  and  the  House  of 
Representatives,  all  of  which  were  in  session.  As  they  passed 
into  the  latter  hall  and  took  their  seats  within  the  bar  and 


Jlixtoric  Notes.  185 

among-the  members,  Sherrard,  who  occupied  a  seat  in  one  cor- 
ner of  the  room,  unseen  by  the  Governor,  was  observed  to  mani- 
fest a  strange  uneasiness  of  manner,  and  with  a  heavy  scowl 
upon  his  countenance,  and  muttering  some  unintelligible 
words,  suddenly  arose  and  quit  the  apartment.  The  Gov- 
ernor remained  a  half  hour  or  more,  and  then  took  his  leave. 
As  he  was  about  to  step  from  the  main  hall  into  the  adjoining 
anteroom,  Sherrard  stood  in  the  door,  having  gone  off  and  pro- 
cured an  extra  pistol  to  the  one  he  usually  wore,  both  of  which, 
contrary  to  his  custom,  he  had  placed  conveniently  in  a  belt 
buckled  on  the  outside  of  his  clothing.  In  his  breast  he  also 
carried  a  huge  bowie  knife.  Before  the  Governor  had  close.  1 
the  door,  Sherrard  accosted  him  with  the  words:  'You  have 
treated  me  like  a  d — d  scoundrel.'  The  Governor  passed  on 
without  noticing  the  man,  much  less  his  opprobrious  salutation. 
Mr.  McAllister  followed,  and  as  they  passed  toward  the  outer 
door  his  person  interposed  between  that  of  Sherrard  and  the 
Governor.  Dr.  Gihon  was  the  last  to  leave  the  hall  and  enter 
the  anteroom,  when  he  saw  Sherrard  spitting  after  the  Gov- 
ernor, at  the  same  time  muttering  oaths  and  threats  of  defiance, 
his  right  hand  firmly  grasping  one  of  the  pistols  in  his  belt. 
Adjoining  the  anteroom  was  another  small  room,  the  door  of 
which  was  partially  opened,  and  there  stood  several  ruffians 
who  had  been  apprised  of  the  intended  assassination,  and  were 
ready  to  take  their  part  in  the  bloody  work.  The  Governor 
and  his  friends  were  unarmed.  Had  he  halted  to  speak  to 
Sherrard,  or  turned  upon  him,  or  in  any  possible  way  given  an 
excuse  for  the  deed,  he  would  have  been  shot  down  like  a  dog, 
and  himself  and  companions  riddled  with  balls,  and  the  mur- 
derer's allies  would  have  been  left  to  tell  the  story  and  justify 
their  infamous  crime."  (Gihon,  pp.  233,  234.) 

NOTE  48. 

The  same  G.  W.  Clarke  who  shot  Barber  went  through 
Linn  county  in  the  fall  of  1856,  at  the  head  of  a  band  of  Pro- 
Slavery  cut  throats,  outlaws  and  ruffians,  and  devastated  the 
county  with  fire  and  sword.  They  burned  a  store  at  Sugar 


186  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

Mound,  and  other  buildings  near  the  present  town  oi  Mound 
City;  they  pillaged  from  and  drove  out  the  Free-State  settlers 
along  Little  and  Big  Sugar,  and  threatened  death  to  all  who 
should  come  back.  In  the  following  winter  Montgomery  or- 
ganized his  band,  styled  the  '  Self-Protective  Company,'  after- 
wards known  by  the  immortal  name  of  Jayhaiekers.  By  this 
move  of  Montgomery's,  which  was  strictly  retaliatory,  the  Free- 
State  men  soon  returned,  and  ever  after  stood  by  their  claims 
and  defended  their  rights.  A  writer,  now  of  Topeka,  and  who 
in  the  saddle  was  one  of  Montgomery's  men  in  1858,  then  wrote 
as  follows:  "Montgomery,  from  his  retirement,  saw  it  all.  He 
saw  every  Free-State  man  of  note  either  driven  from  or  har- 
rassed  into  leaving  the  county.  He  saw  them  deliberately 
plundered  of  cattle,  horses,  goods  and  crops;  in  many  instances 
their  cabins  burned,  and  outrages  committed  of  such  atrocity 
that  even  decency  forbids  their  mention.  He  saw  the  guilty 
parties  grow  rich  in  a  night  on  property  thus  pillaged  from  his 
Free-State  neighbors.  He  saw  all  attempts  at  redress  by  law 
scouted  at  or  thwarted. 

"For  a  long  time  Montgomery  and  others  waited  for  redress 
by  law  of  all  their  abuses,  and  probably  would  have  waited 
longer,  had  they  seen  any  signs  of  justice  assuming  the  scepter 
of  command;  but  things  daily  continuing  to  grow  worse,  he  at 
last  obeyed  the  call  of  an  injured  people,  and  summoning  a  few 
of  his  neighbors  together,  he  enrolled  them  in  a  company  styled 
the  'Self-Protective  Company,'  and  took  the  field  to  check 
some  of  the  gigantic  evils  that  had  crept  into  the  politic  and 
legal  code  of  the  county.  A  policy  of  action  was  then  agreed 
upon,  which  was  strictly  carried  out.  Every  man  of  Influence 
in  Linn  county,  who  sustained  the  'Blue  Lodge'  in  its  secret 
machinations,  and  upheld  the  'Bogus  Code'  and  the  Pro-Slavery 
Lecompton  government,  whether  by  fraud,  violence  or  murder, 
was  warned  to  leave  the  Territory  in  a  certain  time,  and  take 
with  him  his  property.  Some  left,  and  some  refused  to  go. 
Those  who  did  not  leave  within  the  specified  time  were  visited 
again,  when  their  houses  were  searched,  and  arms,  ammunition, 
horses,  etc.,  taken  from  them.  In  no  case,  however,  was  the 


Historic  Notes.  187 

house  of  a  Pro-Slavery  man  burned,  or  his  property  wantonly 
destroyed,  by  Montgomery  and  his  men.  The  ejected  occupant 
had  full  permission  to  sell  or  transfer  his  property  in  any  way 
he  chose,  no  restraint  whatever  being  imposed  on  his  actions. 

"This  bold  and  decided  course  on  the  part  of  the  Free-State 
men  had  the  desired  effect;  peace  was  for  the  time  being  se- 
cured, and  Montgomery  retired  to  his  home.  So  universally 
approved  of,  however,  was  his  course,  by  the  settlers  from 
whose  neck  he  had  lifted  the  galling  yoke  they  had  so  long 
worn,  that  they  would  have  at  any  time  responded  en  masse  to 
any  call  he  might  have  made  on  their  time  and  services."  ( W. 
P.  Tomlinson's  "Kansas  in  1858.") 

NOTE  49. 

The  "Bogus  Laws"  were  publicly  burned  in  some  parts  of 
Linn  in  1855  and  1856. 

NOTE  50. 
These  were  slavery  phrases  of  the  border  ruffian  days. 

NOTE  51. 

A  Sharpe's  rifle  was  in  those  days  called  a  "Beecher,"  in 
honor  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

NOTE  52. 

JOHN  BROWN'S  PARAI/LEI^S. 

While  the  following  letter  is  dated  at  the  Trading  Post,  in 
Linn  county,  it  was  actually  written  on  the  Pottawatomie,  while 
John  Brown  was  leisurely  and  carefully  wending  his  way  to 
Canada  with  his  captured  colored  people,  there  to  set  them  free. 
The  letter  was  addressed  to  the  New  York  Tribune: 

TRADING  POST,  KAS.,  January,  1859. 

GENTLEMEN:  You  will  greatly  oblige  an  humble  friend  by  al- 
lowing the  use  of  your  columns  while  I  briefly  state  two  paral- 
lels in  my  poor  way. 

Not  one  year  ago  eleven  quiet  citizens  of  this  neighborhood, 
William  Robertson,  William  Colpetzer,  Amos  Hall.  Austin  Hall, 
Johti  Campbell,  Asa  Suyder,  Thomas  Stillwell,  William  Hair- 


188  The  Song  of  Kansas. 

grove,  Asa  Hairgrove,  Patrick  Ross  and  B.  L.  Reed  were  gath- 
ered up  from  their  work  and  their  homes  by  an  armed  force, 
under  one  Hamilton,  and,  without  trial  or  opportunity  to  speak 
in  their  own  defense,  were  formed  into  line,  and  all  but  one 
shot,  five  killed  and  five  wounded;  one  fell  unharmed,  pretend- 
ing to  be  dead.  All  were  left  for  dead.  The  only  crime  alleged 
against  them  was  that  of  being  Free-State  men.  Now.  I  inquire 
what  action  has  ever  since  the  occurrence  in  May  last  been  taken 
by  either  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Governor  of 
Missouri,  the  Governor  of  Kansas,  or  any  of  their  tools,  or  by 
any  Pro-Slavery  or  administration  man,  to  ferret  out  and  punish 
the  perpetrators  of  this  crime  ? 

Now  for  the  other  parallel:  On  Sunday,  December  19th,  a 
negro  man  called  Jim  came  over  to  the  Osage  settlement  from 
Missouri,  and  stated  that  he,  together  with  his  wife,  two  chil- 
dren and  another  negro  man  were  to  be  sold  within  a  day  or 
two.  and  begged  for  help  to  get  away.  On  Monday  (the'fol- 
lowing)  night,  two  small  companies  were  made  up  to  go  to  Mis- 
souri and  forcibly  liberate  the  five  slaves,  together  with  other 
slaves.  One  of  these  companies  I  assumed  to  direct.  We  pro- 
ceeded to  the  place,  surrounded  the  buildings,  liberated  the 
slaves,  and  also  took  certain  property  supposed  to  belong  to 
the  estate.  We.  however,  learned  before  leaving  that  a  portion 
of  these  articles  we  had  taken  belonged  to  a  man  living  on  the 
plantation  as  a  tenant,  and  who  was  supposed  to  have  no  in- 
terest in  the  estate.  We  promptly  returned  to  him  all  we  had 
taken.  We  then  went  to  another  plantation,  where  we  found 
five  more  slaves,  took  some  property,  and  two  white  men.  We 
moved  all  slowly  away  into  the  Territory  for  some  distance,  and 
then  sent  the  white  men  back,  telling  them  to  follow  us  as  soon 
as  they  chose  to  do  so.  The  other  company  freed  one  female 
slave,  took  some  property,  and,  as  I  am  informed,  killed  one 
white  man.  the  master,  who  fought  against  the  liberation. 

Now  for  a  comparison:  Eleven  persons  are  forcibly  restored 
to  their  natural  and  inalienable  rights,  with  but  one  man  killed, 
and  all  hell  is  stirred  from  beneath.  It  is  currently  reported 
that  the  Governor  of  Missouri  has  made  a  requisition  upon  the 
Governor  of  Kansas  for  the  delivery  of  all  such  as  were  con- 
cerned in  the  last-named  "dreadful  outrage."  The,  marshal  of 
Kansas  is  said  to  be  collecting  a  posse  of  Missouri  (not  Kansas) 
men  at  West  Point,  in  Missouri,  a  little  town  about  ten  miles 
distant,  to  enforce  the  laws;  all  Pro-Slavery,  conservative. 
Free-State  and  dough-face  men,  and  administration  tools,  are 
filled  with  holy  horror. 

Consider  the  two  cases,  and  the  action  of  the  administration 
party.  Respectfully  yours,  Jonx  Buowx. 


Historic  Notes.  189 

NOTE  53. 

"Kansas  furnished  more  troops  to  the  Union  army  in  pro- 
portion to  her  inhabitants  than  any  other  State  in  the  Union, 
her  population  in  1860  being  107,206,  and  troops  furnished 
•20,151." 


A     000  026  402     8 


' 


